BUDGET SUMMARY WITH MAJOR HIGHLIGHTS OF THE INTERIM BUDGET 2019-20

 Interim Budget 2019-20 was presented in Parliament today by the Union Minister for Finance, Corporate Affairs, Railways & Coal, Shri Piyush Goyal. Besides having a major Scheme for the farmers, it provides tax sops and sets the Developmental Agenda for the years to come. 

A New Deal for 12 Crore Small and Marginal farmers with direct income support, a path breaking Pension initiative for 10 Crore unorganized sector workers, exempting income up to Rs 5 lakhs from Income Tax, reforms in stamp duty, highest ever budgetary allocation of Rs 3 lakh crore for Defence, record allocation of funds at Rs 58,166 crore for North Eastern Areas, a new AIIMS for Haryana, single window clearance for Indian film makers at par with foreigners and higher budgetary allocations for Education, Health, Infrastructure and for the welfare of weaker sections including Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes, a Separate Department of Fisheries for welfare of 1.5 crore fisherman are some of the major highlights of the Interim Budget 2019-20.

Major Schemes

New Scheme- namely “Pradhan Mantri KIsan SAmman Nidhi (PM-KISAN)” to extend direct income support at the rate of Rs. 6,000 per year to farmer families, having cultivable land upto 2 hectares is announced.

While presenting the Interim Budget 2019-20, the Union Minister for Finance, Corporate Affairs, Railways & Coal, Shri Piyush Goyal said that “our Government is launching a historic programme PM-KISAN with an outlay of Rs.75,000 crore for the FY 2019-20 and Rs.20,000 crore in the Revised Estimates of FY 2018-19”.

            Under this Government of India funded Scheme, Rs.2,000 each will be transferred to the bank accounts of around 12 crore Small and Marginal farmer families, in three equal installments. This programme would be made effective from 1st December 2018 and the first installment for the period upto31st March 2019 would be paid during this year itself, Shri Piyush Goyal said.

To provide sustained and focused attention towards development of Fisheries, the  Government has decided to create a separate Department of Fisheries. Finance Minister said that through the measure, the Government wants to promote further growth over 7% to promote livelihood of about 1.45 crore people dependent on the sector.

The Finance Minister announced 2% interest subvention to the farmers pursuing the activities of animal husbandry and fisheries, who avail loan through Kisan Credit Card. Further, in case of timely repayment of loan, they will also get an additional 3% interest subvention.

Allocation of Rs.750 crore for Rashtriya Gokul Mission has been announced for the current year itself. Setting up of "Rashtriya Kamdhenu Aayog" to upscale sustainable genetic upgradation of cow resources and to enhance production and productivity of cows has also been announced. The Aayog will also look after effective implementation of laws and welfare schemes for cow.

To provide pensionary benefits to at least 10 crore labourers and workers in the unorganised sector a new Scheme called 'Pradhan Mantri Shram-Yogi Maandhan' is announced.  The Finance Minister said that within next five years it would be one of the largest pension schemes of the world. A sum of Rs.500 crore has been allocated for the Scheme. Additional funds will be provided as needed, Shri Goyal added. The scheme will also be implemented from the current year, he said.

Tax Benefits

 Individual taxpayers having taxable annual income up to Rs.5 lakhs will not be required to pay any income tax. The Finance Minister said that persons having gross income up to Rs. 6.50 lakhs are not required to pay any income tax if they make investments in provident funds, specified savings and insurance etc. Additional deductions such as interest on home loan up to Rs. 2 lakh, interest on education loans, National Pension Scheme contributions, medical insurance and medical expenditure on senior citizens etc, are also provided for in the Interim Budget 2019-20. Thus tax benefit of Rs. 18,500 crore is proposed to be provided to an estimated 3 crore middle class and small taxpayers comprising self employed, small business, small traders, salary earners, pensioners and senior citizens.

For salaried persons, Standard Deduction is being raised from the current Rs.40,000 to Rs.50,000. This will provide additional tax benefit of Rs. 4,700 crore to more than 3 crore salary earners and pensioners.

Exemption on levy of income tax on notional rent on a second self-occupied house is also now proposed. Currently, income tax on notional rent is payable if one has more than one self-occupied house.

TDS threshold on interest earned on bank/post office deposits is being raised from Rs.

10,000 to Rs.40,000.

TDS threshold for deduction of tax on rent is proposed to be increased from Rs. 1,80,000 to Rs.2,40,000 for providing relief to small taxpayers.

The Finance Minister says that the Government wants the GST burden on home buyers to be reduced and accordingly the GST Council was moved to appoint a Group of Ministers to examine and make recommendations in this regard at the earliest.

Shri Goyal said that soon, businesses comprising over 90% of GST payers will be allowed to file quarterly return.

Inflation

            The Finance Minister said that the Government has been successful in bringing down average inflation to 4.6% over last five years, which is lower than the inflation during the tenure of any other Government. In fact Inflation in December 2018 was down to 2.19% only. Shri Goyal said if we had not controlled inflation, our families would have been spending around 35-40% more today on basic necessities such as food, travel, consumer durables, housing etc. The average rate of inflation during previous five years 2009-2014 was a backbreaking 10.1%, he pointed out.

Fiscal Deficit

            The fiscal deficit has been brought down to 3.4% in 2018-19 RE from the high of almost 6% seven years ago, the Finance Minister mentioned.  He said, the Current Account Deficit (CAD), against a high of 5.6% six years ago, is likely to be only 2.5% of GDP this year. “We contained the fiscal deficit notwithstanding the Finance Commission's recommendations increasing the share of the States from 32% to 42% in central taxes, which we accepted in the true spirit of cooperative federalism, thereby transferring significantly higher amounts to the States”, Shri Goyal said.

Growth and FDI

The Finance Minister Shri Piyush Goyal stated that a stage for high growth in decades to come, has now been set, after a wave of next generation path breaking structural reforms over the last five years, including introduction of Goods and Services Tax (GST) and other taxation reforms.

The country witnessed its best phase of macro-economic stability during the last five years. “We are the fastest growing major economy in the world with an annual average GDP growth during last five years higher than the growth achieved by any Government since economic reforms began in 1991. From being the 11th largest economy in the world in 2013-14, we are today the 6th largest in the world”, the Finance Minister asserted in his Opening Remarks  of his Budget speech.

Shri Goyal said that due to such a stable and predictable regulatory regime, growing economy and strong fundamentals, India could attract massive amount of as much as $239 billion of Foreign Direct Investment (FDI) during the last 5 years, when most of the FDI was allowed to come in through the automatic route.

Enhanced allocations for major Schemes

            Announcing an allocation of Rs.60,000 crores for MGNREGA for Budget Estimates 2019-20,  the Finance Minister said that additional allocations will be made, if required.

Pradhan Mantri Gram Sadak Yojana (PMGSY) is being allocated Rs.19,000 crore in BE 2019-20 as against Rs.15,500 crore in RE 2018-19. During the period 2014-18, a total number of 1.53 crore houses have been built under the Pradhan Mantri Awas Yojana, he announced.

By March, 2019, all households will be provided with electricity connection.  Till now, 143 crore LED bulbs have been provided in a mission mode which has resulted in saving of Rs.50,000 crore for the poor and middle class.

He said through the world’s largest healthcare programme, Ayushman Bharat, to provide medical treatment to nearly 50 crore people in the country,  around 10 lakh patients have already benefited through free treatment for medical treatment which would have otherwise cost them Rs. 3,000 crore. Lakhs of poor and middle class people are also benefiting from reduction in the prices of essential medicines, cardiac stents and knee implants, and availability of medicines at affordable prices through Pradhan Mantri Jan Aushadhi Kendras, the Finance Minister added.

Shri Goyal also said that 14 of the 21 AIIMS operating or being established in the country presently have been announced since 2014. He also announced setting up of a new - the 22nd AIIMS in Haryana.

Allocation for Integrated Child Development Scheme (ICDS) is being increased from Rs.23,357 crore in RE 2018-19 to Rs.27,584 crore in BE 2019-20.

A substantial increase is proposed in the allocation for welfare of the Scheduled Castes  and Scheduled Tribes. The allocation of  Rs.56,619 crore  made in BE of 2018-19 for Scheduled Caste, further increased to Rs.62,474 crore in RE is proposed to be enhanced to Rs.76,801 crore in BE for 2019-20, an increase of 35.6% over BE of 2018-19. For the Scheduled Tribes also, proposed allocation in 2019-20 BE is Rs.50,086 crore as against Rs.39,135 crore in BE 2018-19, an increase of 28%.

The Finance Minister said that a Welfare Development Board to frame special strategies for the benefit of the  hard-to-reach De-notified, Nomadic and Semi-Nomadic communities will be set up under the Ministry of Social Justice and Empowerment. He said that a Committee under NITI Aayog will also be set up to complete the task of identifying De-notified, Nomadic and Semi-Nomadic communities not yet formally classified.

Shri Goyal said under the Ujjwala Yojana aiming delivery  of 8 crore free LPG connections, more than 6 crore connections have already been given and the remaining will get free gas connections by next year.

The Finance Minister announced that a National Artificial Intelligence Portal will also be developed soon as a part of the National Programme on 'Artificial Intelligence'.

The Department of Industrial Policy and Promotion will now be renamed as the Department for Promotion of Industries and Internal Trade.

The Finance Minister stated that the Government e-Marketplace (GeM), created by the present Government two years ago, resulted in average savings of 25-28% and the platform will now be extended to all CPSEs. Transactions of over Rs. 17,500 crore have taken place so far.

The Finance Minister announced that for the first time, the country’s Defence Budget will be of over Rs.3 lakh crore.   

The Finance Minister, Shri Piyush Goyal pointed-out that domestic air traffic passengers have doubled during the last five years, leading to large number of jobs also being created. The number of operational airports has crossed 100 with the commissioning of the Pakyong airport in Sikkim.  Arunachal Pradesh came on the air map recently and Meghalaya, Tripura and Mizoram have come on India’s rail map for the first time.

Capital support from the budget for Indian Railways is proposed at Rs.64,587 crore in 2019-20 (BE). The Railways’ overall capital expenditure programme is of Rs. 1,58,658 crore. The Finance Minister, who is also holding the portfolio of Railway Ministry, announced that the Operating Ratio is expected to improve from 98.4% in 2017-18 to 96.2% in 2018-19 (RE) and further to 95% in 2019-20 (BE).

India’s installed solar generation capacity has grown over ten times in last five years. Stating this, Shri Goyal said that “our commitment to promote renewable energy is reflected in setting up the International Solar Alliance, the first treaty based international inter-governmental organisation headquartered in India. This sector is now creating lakhs of new age jobs, he added.

The Finance Minister announced that in Entertainment industry, which is a major employment generator, regulatory provisions will now rely more on self-declarations. To promote entertainment industry, the Single window clearance for ease of shooting films, now available only to foreigners, will also be made available to Indian filmmakers. “We will also introduce anti-camcording provisions in the Cinematograph Act to control the menace of piracy”, he said.

Saying that “We are poised to become a Five Trillion Dollar Economy in the next five years and aspire to become a Ten Trillion Dollar Economy in the next 8 years thereafter”, Shri Piyush Goyal said that there has been a Growth of 18% in Direct Tax Collections in 2017-18 and increase in tax base by as many as 1.06 crore people filing income tax returns for the first time in FY 2017-18, mainly on account of demonetization.

Shri Goyal said that he is proposing, through the Finance Bill, necessary amendments to levy Stamp duties on one instrument relating to one transaction and get collected at one place through the Stock Exchanges. The duty so collected will be shared with the State Governments seamlessly on the basis of domicile of buying client, he said.

In all the total expenditure is to increase from Rs.24,57,235 crore in 2018-19 RE to Rs.27,84,200 crore in 2019-20 BE.  A rise of Rs.3,26,965 crore or approximately 13.30%. This reflects a high increase considering low inflation. The fiscal deficit of year 2019-20 is estimated to be 3.4% of GDP.

The Finance Minister pointed out that after completion of the fiscal deficit consolidation programme, the Government would now focus on Debt consolidation. He said “We have maintained the glide path towards our target of 3% of fiscal deficit to be achieved by 2020-21. India’s Debt to GDP ratio was 46.5% in year 2017-18. The FRBM Act prescribes that the Debt to GDP ratio of the Government of India should be brought down to 40% by 2024-25. “Along with completion of the fiscal deficit consolidation programme, we will now focus on Debt consolidation”, he added.

General Awareness Model Practice Questions

1. Raghuram Rajan is the first Indian served as the Chief Economist of IMF. Where is
the head quarter of IMF?
1) Geneva
2) Beijing
3) Washington D C
4) Paris
5) New York

2. Who is the present Managing Director of IMF?
1) Kristalina Georgieva-Kinova
2) K.V.Kamath
3) Christine Legarde
4) Jin Liquin
5) Takehiko Nakao

3. On 7 January 2019, who announced his resignation as the president of World Bank unexpectedly, more than three years before his term ends in 2022?
1) K.V.Kamath
2) Temasek Holdings
3) Werner Hoyer
4) Brian Thomas Moynihan
5) Jim Yong Kim

4. How many players will be selected out of competitions in Khelo India Youth games and they will be given Rs 5 lakh each per annum for the next 8 years for development of their sporting talent?
1) 200
2) 10000
3) 1000
4) 750
5) 500

5. Which team secured the highest number of Gold Medals in 2018 Khelo India Games held at New Delhi?
1) Karnataka
2) Kerala
3) Haryana
4) Maharashtra
5) Delhi

6. Indian Woman boxer attained number one position in the International Boxing Association's (AIBA) latest world rankings recently. She is……………..?
1) Pinki Rani
2) Sarita Devi
3) Kavita Chahal
4) M C Mary Kom
5) Yvonne Caples

7. On 5 January 2019, PM Modi laid the foundation stone of revival of North Koel (Mandal Dam) project in…..?
1) Uttarakhand
2) Uttar Pradesh
3) Odisha
4) Manipur
5) Jharkhand

8. Present woman governor of Jharkhand is ?
1) Draupadi Murmu
2) Nazma Hepthulla
3) Mrudula Sinha
4) Ananda Bin Patel
5) Babi Rani Maurya

9. Venezuela is one of the world's largest oil producers. What is the capital of Venezuela?
1) Buenos Aires
2) Caracas
3) Lima
4) Santiago
5) Bogota

10. Who is the chief minister of Gujarat?
1) Manohar Lal Khattar
2) Vasundara Raje
3) Vijay Rupani
4) Devendra Fadnavis
5) Yogi Adityanath

11. Which state ranked Best Performer in first ever States Start-up Ranking 2018 by Department of Industrial Policy and Promotion (DIPP) announced on 20, December 2018?
1) Telengana
2) Kerala
3) Gujarat
4) Uttarakhand
5) Manipur

12. Present chairman of Staff Selection Commission is …?
1) Ashim Khurana
2) Aravind Saxena
3) Anita Karwal
4) Anil Dattatraya Sahasrabudhe
5) Vijay Kumar Saraswat

13. Norway capital is Oslo. What is the currency of Norway?
1) Rupee
2) Pound
3) Euro
4) Krone
5) Dollar

14. Who was declared as the Player of the series Award in the India-Australia Test series held recently?
1) Rishabh Rajendra Pant
2) Mohammed Shami
3) Cheteshwar Pujara
4) Virat Kohli
5) Hanuma Vihari

ANSWERS:
1-3 2-3 3-3 4-3 5-3 6-4 7-5 8-1 9-2 10-3 11-3 12 -1 13-4 14 -4

Global Skill Summit - 2019

On January 10, 2019, Global Skill Summit 2019 was held in Ranchi, Jharkhand. The unique feature of the Summit was that on this occasion, total 1,06,619 youths of Jharkhand were given symbolic offer letter for jobs in the private sector, surpassing the target of giving jobs to 1,00,000 youths.
Thus, Jharkhand became the first state to achieve the feat of giving jobs to over one lakh youths in the private sector. The theme of the Summit was ‘Skilling Youth, Enabling Youth’. The summit was attended by Dharmendra Pradhan, Ministerfor Petroleum and Natural Gas, and Skill Development and Entrepreneurship.

Longest Steel Bridge Opened

On 10th January 2019, Arunachal Pradesh Chief Minister Pema Khandu inaugurated India’s longest 300-meter single- lane steel cable suspension bridge over Siang River in Upper Siang district of state bordering China.

International Kite Festival

On 6th January 2019, the international kite festival inaugurated in Ahmadabad. The kite fest usually celebrated ahead of Uttarayan or Makar Sankranti, the day when winter season starts changing to summer and farmers welcome the approaching harvest season. Besides kite flyers from India, 45 different countries also took part in the festival at Sabarmati River Front. This year, the Gujarat government also decided to organise a kite festival at Kevadia, the site of the Statue of Unity, a memorial to Sardar Patel and also the world’s tallest statue.

Khelo India - 2019

The Khelo India Youth Games 2019 were declared open on 9 January 2019 in the presence of a host of sports personalities including double Olympic medalist wrestler Sushil Kumar.
The Khelo India is now bigger and better in its second edition, after being re-christened Khelo India Youth Games, covering 18 different disciplines of which six are team sports. Maharashtra Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis and Union Sports Minister Rajyavardhan Singh Rathore participated in the event. Opened in Shiv Chhatrapati Sports Complex, Pune, for the first time students from Colleges and Universities are participating, will have a total of 9000 participants.

GENERAL AWARENESS PRACTICE MCQ's

1. The recent decision of GST council made that Music Books attract how much GST rate?
1) 28%
2) 18%
3) 12%
4) 5%
5) Nil

2. GST council reduced the GST rate on Parts and accessories for the carriages for disabled persons from 28% to………
1) 18%
2) 5%
3) 0%
4) 12%
5) 8%

3. The Services supplied by banks to Basic Saving Bank Deposit (BSBD) and account holders under Pradhan Mantri Jan Dhan Yojana (PMJDY) attract how much GST rate as per the decision of GST council recently?
1) 28%
2) 18%
3) 12%
4) 5%
5) totally exempted from GST

4. On 18th December 2018, Naveen Patnaik, CM of Odisha announced financial aid of Rs.10 Crore for the establishment of Odiya Cultural Centre in………
1) Hyderabad
2) Bangalore
3) Chennai
4) Guwahati
5) Surat

5. What is the official mascot for the Odisha Men’s Hockey World Cup is.....
1) Winkey
2) Rohoey
3) Olly
4) Phoneyh
5) Wi Wi

6. Which software launched by Indian Railways to keep track of punctuality of trains and freight and passenger earnings from anywhere in India?
1) Rwire
2) Rpole
3) eDrishti
4) epromote
5) eskill

7. Which state launched Saura Jalnidhi scheme to encourage use of solar energy in irrigation by farmers?
1) UP 2) Maharashtra
3) Odisha
4) Tamilnadu
5) MP

8. NITI Aayog document “Strategy for New India@75” said that the Investment rate should be boosted from 29% of GDP in FY18 to ………….by FY23.
1) 42%
2) 34%
3) 46%
4) 36%
5) 50%

9. 15 women entrepreneurs were given awards at the recently concluded Women Transforming India Awards 2018 in New Delhi. Theme of the WTI Awards 2018 is……
1) Women and Entrepreneurship
2) Women and Empowerment
3) Women and Rise of them
4) Women for Entrepreneurship for all
5) Women and Care

10. NITI Aayog inked agreement with ………. to deploy artificial intelligence (AI) technologies to address challenges in agriculture and healthcare
1) Infosys
2) TCS
3) Tech Mahindra
4) Microsoft India
5) Amazon India

11. Service-specific exercise AVIAINDRA between Indian Air Force (IAF) and Russian Federation Aerospace Force (RFAF), held ………
1) Vishakapatnam, Andhra Pradesh
2) Pune, Maharastra
3) Kochi, Kerala
4) Jodhpur in Rajasthan
5) Agra, Uttar Pradesh

12. Union Ministry of Tourism inaugurated
India’s first tribal circuit project connecting
13 tourism sites in………….. under
Swadesh Darshan Scheme.
1) Chhattisgarh 2) Jharkhand
3) Arunachal Pradesh 4) Manipur
5) Mizoram

Answers:
1-5 2-2 3-5 4-5 5-3 6-3 7-3 8-4 9-1 10-4 11-4 12-1

Strategy for New India@75

NITI Aayog unveiled a strategy document called the “Strategy for New India@75” suggesting reforms to make India a 4-trillion dollar economy by 2022-23. The document’s main idea is to go for such reforms in the economy that will keep India growing at 8% annually that could be quicken to 9 10% by 2022-23. The document suggests increasing the share of taxes in the national income from current 17% to 22%. The report calls for the inclusion of fuel and electricity within the ambit of GST. All of the 250,000 gram panchayats should be digitally connected by 2019 through the Bharat Net programme. The government services should be delivered digitally to all the gram panchayats by 2022- 23. The document also says that Bharatmala Pariyojana and roads-construction in the north eastern region should be completed and Power for All and a pucca house for every family have to be ensured. FDI limits should be liberalised also.

KALIA scheme for Farmers

Odisha CM Naveen Patnaik announced Rs.10,800 crore scheme for farmers on 21 December 2018. It is the Krushak Assistance for Livelihoods & Income Augmentation (KALIA), which benefits both farmers and share croppers. Lord Jagannath in Odisha is also called Kalia. The scheme has 5 components- financial support for cultivation, livelihood support for landless households, financial assistance to vulnerable agriculture households and landless labourers, life insurance cover and exemption of interest for crop loans of up to Rs 50,000. Under the KALIA scheme, all small and marginal farmers numbering around 3 million will be covered. An assistance of Rs 10,000 will be provided per family for Kharif and Rabi seasons. The scheme also promises Rs.2 Lakh life insurance cover.

First Railway University

National Rail and Transportation Institute (NRTI), is India’s first Railway university focused on transport-related education, multidisciplinary research and training dedicated to the nation by Union Minister of Railways and Coal Piyush Goyal and Gujarat Chief Minister Vijay Rupani on 15 December 2018. Located in Vadodara, Gujarat offering two courses, Bachelor of Science in Transportation Technology and a Bachelor of Business Administration in Transport Management.

CURRENT EVENTS PRACTICE MCQs FOR COMPETITIVE EXAMS

1. In which city Radha Mohan Singh, Union Agriculture Minister, laid foundation stone of Pusa Kisan Haat in ICAR- Agricultural Technology Information Centre?
1) New Delhi 
2) Mumbai
3) Kolkata 
4) Chennai

2. Where was the annual India Water Impact Summit 2018 held?
1) New Delhi 
2) Hyderabad
3) Amaravathi 
4) Mangalore

3. Where was the Global Venture Capital Summit-2018 held?
1) Tamil Nadu 
2) Maharashtra
3) Goa 
4) Madhya Pradesh

4. Which pair has become India's Second Inland Water Transport origin destination pair for containerized cargo movement on National Waterway-1?
1) Paradip-Cuttack
2) Kolkata-Patna 
3) Panaji-Kochi
4) Mumbai-Chennai

5. Where was the 1st International Conference on Bears held?
1) Shimla, Himachal Pradesh
2) Agra, Uttar Pradesh
3) Darjeeling, West Bengal
4) Nagpur, Maharashtra

6. At which place did Indian Coast Guard conducted the Regional Level Marine Oil Pollution
Response Exercise named 'Clean Sea - 2018' at the sea?
1) Chandipur, Odisha
2) Port Blair, Andaman & Nicobar Islands
3) Mumbai, Maharashtra
4) Calicut, Kerala

7. In which State/UT the India's first underwater museum will be opened in a decommissioned Indian Naval vessel named INS Cuddalore?
1) Odisha 
2) Maharashtra
3) Puducherry
4) Andhra Pradesh

8. When did UNICEF (United Nations International Children Emergency Fund) celebrate its 71st foundation day?
1) December 9 
2) December 10
3) December 11 
4) December 12

9. Where was the Regional Conference on 'Good Governance - Focus on Aspirational Districts' held?
1) Bengaluru, Karnataka
2) Thiruvananthapuram, Kerala
3) Pune, Maharashtra
4) Hyderabad, Telangana

10. Where was the first International Conference, on the theme- 'Sustainable Water Management', held?
1) Rohtak, Haryana
2) Dehradun, Uttarakhand
3) Mohali, Punjab
4) Kochi, Kerala

11. Which entity has developed the portal ENSURE- National Livestock Mission-EDEG launched
by Union Minister of Agriculture Radha Mohan Singh?
1) National Informatics Centre
2) NITI Aayog 
3) NABARD
4) IIT, Delhi

12. Where was Nishidhi stone inscription from the 12th century, issued to commemorate Jain ascetics
who perform Sallekhana vratha, found?
1) Pelling, Sikkim
2) Udaipur, Rajasthan
3) Shivamogga, Karnataka
4) Namakkal, Tamil Nadu

13. Where was the third exhibition of the 2nd series of collection titled "Uncrowned Glory - An exhibition of Ethnic Ornaments of Himachal Pradesh" inaugurated?
1) Shimla 
2) Manali
3) New Delhi 
4) Mumbai

14. Which state government has announced the creation of an umbrella university named after
former Prime Minister late Atal Bihari Vajpayee?
1) Gujarat 
2) Uttar Pradesh
3) Himachal Pradesh
4) Karnataka

15. Where was the National conference 'AYUSHCHARYA' on Dinacharya (Daily Regimen) and
Ritucharya (Seasonal Regimen) for public health promotion?
1) Mumbai 
2) Kolkata
3) Puducherry 
4) New Delhi

16. In which field Union Cabinet approved a MoU between India and the USA to focus on Scientific
and Technical Cooperation?
1) Earth Sciences
2) Maritime Defence
3) Genetic Engineering
4) Food Processing and Technology

17. Which Indian city has topped in the list of top 10 fastest growing cities in the world from 2019 to
2035 in India, as per Oxford Economics report?
1) Mumbai, Maharashtra
2) Surat, Gujarat
3) Agra, Uttar Pradesh
4) Bengaluru, Karnataka

18. At which position India stood in the highest emitter of carbon dioxide in the world, accounting
for 7 % of global emissions in 2017, according to a study by Global Carbon Project?
1) Second 
2) Third
3) Fourth 
4) Fifth

19. Which country has become the first Latin American Country to join China's Belt and Road
Initiative?
1) Mexico 
2) Costa Rica
3) Panama 
4) Argentina

20. Where was the 12th session of India-UAE Joint Commission Meeting (JCM) for Economic and Technical Cooperation, held?
1) New Delhi, India
2) Mumbai, India
3) Dubai, UAE
4) Abu Dhabi, UAE

21. Where did External Affairs Minister Sushma Swaraj co-inaugurate Gandhi-Zayed Digital Museum?
1) Bahrain, UAE
2) Abu Dhabi, UAE
3) Riyadh, Saudi Arabia
4) Doha, Qatar

22. Which country topped in road deaths with 1.51 lakh road deaths in 2016, according to the Global Status Report on Road Safety?
1) USA 
2) India
3) China 
4) South Korea

23. Which country has become the first country to abolish all fares on public transport by 2019?
1) Luxembourg 
2) Monaco
3) Ireland 
4) Japan

24. Where was the world's largest Arabic audio library launched?
1) Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates
2) Dubai, United Arab Emirates
3) Riyadh, Saudi Arabia
4) Muscat, Oman

25. With which country India participated in the 10th edition of 'INDRA NAVY', the bilateral started at Vishakhapatnam?
1) Australia 
2) Russia
3) France 
4) USA

26. Where was the Military Literature Festival (MLF) 2018 held?
1) New Delhi 
2) Dehradun
3) Kolkata 
4) Chandigarh

27. Which country has approved a new law allowing foreign bluecollar workers into the country to ease labour shortages from April 2019?
1) Australia 
2) Ethiopia
3) Spain 
4) Japan

28. Which country became the 38th member of the Financial Action Task Force (FATF), an international body to combat money laundering, terrorist financing etc?
1) Egypt 
2) Pakistan
3) Israel 
4) Afghanistan

29. Where was Vivah Panchami, the wedding of Lord Rama and Goddess Sita, celebrated on 12th
December 2018?
1) Dhaka, Bangladesh
2) Janakpur, Nepal
3) Uttar Pradesh, India
4) Colombo, Sri Lanka

30. With which Indian bank the Central Bank of the UAE made a Currency Swap Agreement and was signed?
1) State Bank of India
2) Reserve Bank of India
3) NABARD 
4) SIDBI

31. With which country India signed an agreement to pay for the crude oil it imports from the country in rupees?
1) Iran 
2) Iraq
3) Qatar 
4) Saudi Arabia

32. Which airlines has become the first Indian Domestic carrier to have 200 aircraft in its fleet?
1) IndiGo 
2) SpiceJet
3) Jet Airways 
4) GoAir

33. Which country became the world's leading exporter of Liquefied Natural Gas (LNG) for the first time?
1) Qatar 
2) USA
3) Iran 
4) Australia

34. Which bank has approved a $400 million loan for a Water Sanitation Project in Andhra Pradesh?
1) Asian Development Bank (ADB)
2) Asian Infrastructure
Investment Bank (AIIB)
3) World Bank 4) SoftBank

35. Where was the 54th SKOCH Summit on the State of Power, Oil and Gas held?
1) Mumbai 
2) Dehradun
3) Raipur 
4) New Delhi

36. By which year India aimed to become a USD 5 trillion economies as per India's 1st Agriculture Export Policy 2018 released by Ministry of Commerce and Industry?
1) 2023 
2) 2025
3) 2031 
4) 2028

37. Which institute won the DSCI Excellence Award 2018, given by Data Security Council of India
(DSCI), for its contributions in Cyber Security education?
1) IIT, Madras 
2) IIT, Kharagpur
3) NIT, Trichy
4) IISc, Bangalore

38. Which country scientists have made nanowire devices from zinc oxide crystals that can inherently process and even store information?
1) American 
2) Indian
3) German 
4) Australian

39. Which country launched its Chang'e-4 moon mission to reach the far side of the moon for the first time?
1) Japan 
2) Singapore
3) South Korea 
4) China

40. What is the name of the threestage nuclear capable surface-tosurface ballistic missile successfully
test fired by India, from Dr Abdul Kalam Island off Odisha coast?
1) Agni-V 
2) Agni-II
3) Vishal-III 
4) Dhanush-IV

41. Which Indian power station created a world record for the longest uninterrupted operation for 941
days, on 10th December 2018?
1) Bokaro Power Station-1, Jharkhand
2) Kaiga Power Station-1, Karnataka
3) Durgapur Power Station-2, West Bengal
4) Barauni Power Station-2, Bihar

42. What is the rank of India in the Climate Change Performance Index released on the sidelines of
COP24 UN Summit in Katowice, Poland, on 10th December 2018?
1) 4 
2) 6 
3) 9 
4) 11

43. Who was appointed as Chief Economic Advisor for a period of 3 years?
1) Ravi Shankar A S
2) Krishnamurthy Subramanian
3) Vijay Thomas
4) Harish Chauhan

44. Who was appointed as the 25th Governor of the Reserve Bank of India (RBI), on 11th December
2018?
1) Ravi Handa
2) Shaktikanta Das
3) S Krishnamoorthy
4) Arjun Rishab

45. Which Australian cricketer broke an unwanted 130-year-old record in Australian cricket when he lost his wicket for just 2 runs?
1) Shaun Marsh 
2) Tim Paine
3) David Warner
4) Glen Maxwell

46. Who became the youngest and the fifth Indian to win the Asian Tour Order of Merit in golf?
1) Shubhankar Sharma
2) Anirban Lahiri 
3) Shiv Kapoor
4) Jeev Milkha Singh

47. Who was appointed as the Managing Director of Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB)?
1) Wasim Khan 
2) Rashid Khan
3) Abbas Mohammed
4) Hashim Ahmed

48. Which sportsperson was honoured with the Meethoileima (Outstanding Queen) title by Manipur government?
1) Manu Bhaker 
2) Hima Das
3) MC Mary Kom
4) Saina Nehwal

49. Who is the Present Chief Minister of Chhattisgarh
1) Raman Singh
2) Shivraj Singh Chouhan
3) Ajit Jogi
4) Bhupesh Baghel

50. Who is the Present Chief Minister of Rajasthan
1) Vasundhara Raje
2) Hira Lal Devpura
3) Ashok Gehlot
4) Shiv Charan Mathur

ANSWERS:
1) 1 2) 1 3) 3 4) 2 5) 2 6) 2 7) 3 8) 3 9) 2 10) 3
11) 3 12) 3 13) 3 14) 2 15) 4 16) 1 17) 2 18) 3 19) 3 20) 4
21) 2 22) 2 23) 1 24) 2 25) 2 26) 4 27) 4 28) 3 29) 2 30) 2
31) 1 32) 1 33) 4 34) 2 35) 4 36) 2 37) 2 38) 3 39) 4 40) 1
41) 2 42) 4 43) 2 44) 2 45) 1 46) 1 47) 1 48) 3 49) 4 50) 3

Appointment of Shri Shaktikanta Das as Governor, RBI

In exercise of the powers conferred by clause (a) of sub-section (1) read with sub-section (4) of Section 8 of the Reserve Bank of India Act 1934, the Central Government appointed Shri Shaktikanta Das, IAS Retd., former Secretary, Department of Economic Affairs, as Governor, Reserve Bank of India (RBI), for a period of three years.

Shyama Prasad Mukherji Rurban Mission

The Shyama Prasad Mukherji Rurban Mission (SPMRM) is under implementation across the country. The Mission has progressed since the launch in 2016. Out of the mandated 300 clusters, 295 clusters have been identified and approved across 29 States and 6 Union Territories. SPMRM was launched by the Hon’ble Prime Minister on February 21st, 2016 with an outlay of Rs. 5142.08 crore. This is a unique programme, designed to deliver catalytic interventions to rural areas on the threshold of growth. There is a funding support of up to 30% of the estimated investment for each Rurban cluster, given as Critical Gap Funding (CGF), while 70% of the funds is mobilized by the States through convergence with synergic State and Central programmes as well as private investment and institutional funding. Upon being re-classified as a Centrally Sponsored Scheme, the CGF is now shared between the Centre and the State in a ratio of 60:40 for Plain area States and 90:10 for Himalayan and NE States.

        Further, through intense engagements with the States, 232 Integrated Cluster Action Plans (ICAPs), which are the blue prints of investment for each cluster, have been approved. Rs1314 crore of Central Share of CGF, Rs. 627.91 crore as corresponding State Share and Rs. 103.25 crore of Administrative Funding, has been released to 29 States and 6 Union Territories over the last four financial years. In FY 2015-16, administrative funds of Rs.32.05 crore has been released. In FY 2016-17, the BE of Rs. 300 crore was doubled at the RE stage to reach 100% expenditure, with a total release of Rs. 600 crore. In FY 2017-18, Rs. 553.26 crore was released to States/UTs against the revised estimate of Rs. 600 crore. In the current FY 2018-19, 236.90crore has been released till date, against a revised estimate (RE) of Rs. 551.03 crore.

            Substantial part of the works identified for development in the clusters is focused on provision of basic and economic amenities. Provision of basic amenities in a cluster typically comprise; provision of 24/7 Water Supply to all households, Solid and Liquid Waste Management facilities at the household and cluster level, provision of Inter and Intra village roads within the cluster, adequate Street Lights and Public Transport facilities using green technologies. Provision of Economic Amenities in a cluster comprise various thematic areas in the sectors of Agri Services and Processing, Tourism, and Skill development to promote Small and Medium Scale Enterprises.