India submits first Biennial Update Report to UNFCCC

India has submitted its first Biennial Update Report (BUR) to the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) towards fulfillment of the reporting obligation. The BUR has been submitted as per the provisions of the UNFCCC Convention which is obligatory on countries to periodically provide national information. 
Key highlights of BUR 
BUR has been prepared by the Union Ministry of Environment, Forest and Climate Change (UNFCC) under its NATCOM project funded by Global Environment Facility (GEF). 
Contains national inventory of Green House Gases (GHG) for 2010 and has been prepared in accordance with the guidelines of Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC). 
6 GHGs in Inventory: Carbon dioxide (CO2), Methane (CH4), Perfluorocarbons (PFCs), Nitrous Oxide (N2O), Sulfur Hexafluoride (SF6) and Hydrofluorocarbons (HFCs). 
Five categories: It covers agriculture, waste and Land-use, Land-use, Change and Forestry (LULUCF), energy, industrial processes and product use (IPPU),. 
India’s emissions: India has emitted around 2,137 million tonnes (mt) of CO2 equivalent GHGs in 2010. About 12% of emissions were offset by carbon sink action of croplands and forests. Thus, total of 1,884.31 million tonnes of CO2 equivalent GHGs were emitted. In 2010, India’s per capita GHG emission was less than one- third of the world’s per capita emissions. It is far below many developed and developing countries. 
Category wise Emissions: Energy sector was the prime contributor to emissions with 71%. While, agriculture contributed 18 % and IPPU 8% to the national GHG inventory. 
Background 
In the conference of Parties (COP)-16 of UNFCCC held in Cancun (Mexico) in 2010 it was decided that the developing countries will submit updates in the form of BUR. The scope of a BUR is to provide an update to the latest National Communication submitted by the country to the UNFCCC. Accordingly, India’s first BUR is an update to the Second National Communication which was submitted in 2012. India had submitted its first national communication in 2004.

India ranks 89th in Global Talent Competitiveness Index 2015-16

India has ranked 89th globally in Global Talent Competitiveness Index (GTCI) 2015-16 list of 106 assessed countries in terms of talent competitiveness of its human capital. This GTCI list was compiled by INSEAD business school in partnership with Adecco and Human Capital Leadership Institute of Singapore (HCLI). This index measures a nation’s competitiveness based on the quality of talent it can produce, attract and retain. 
Report highlights:
 In this edition of list top 20 scoring countries are all high-income countries. The top rankings were dominated by European countries. 
Top 10 in GTCI list:
Switzerland (1st), Singapore (2nd), Luxembourg (3rd), United States (4th), Denmark (5th),Sweden (6th),United Kingdom (7th), Norway (8th), Canada (9th) and Finland (10th). 
Bottom 5 countries: 
Mali (105th), Tanzania (106th), Ethiopia (107th), Burkina Faso (108th) and Madagascar (109th). 
India’s scenario: 
It has slipped by 11 positions in this edition of list compared to previous rank of 78 in 2014-15 edition of list. Lower position indicates acute shortage of skilled workforce. It also ranks at last among BRICS members.

PSLV-C31 Successfully Launches India's Fifth Navigation Satellite IRNSS-1E

ISRO's Polar Satellite Launch Vehicle, PSLV-C31, successfully launched the 1425 kg IRNSS-1E, the fifth satellite in the Indian Regional Navigation Satellite System (IRNSS) on January 20, 2016 from Satish Dhawan Space Centre SHAR, Sriharikota. This is the thirty second consecutively successful mission of PSLV and the eleventh in its 'XL' configuration. 

After the PSLV-C31 lift-off at 0931 hrs (9:31 am) IST from the Second Launch Pad with the ignition of the first stage, the subsequent important flight events, namely, strap-on ignitions and separations, first stage separation, second stage ignition, heat-shield separation, second stage separation, third stage ignition and separation, fourth stage ignition and satellite injection, took place as planned. After a flight of about 18 minutes 43 seconds, IRNSS-1E Satellite was injected to an elliptical orbit of 282.4 km X 20,655.3 km inclined at an angle of 19.21 degree to the equator (very close to the intended orbit) and successfully separated from the PSLV fourth stage. After injection, the solar panels of IRNSS-1E were deployed automatically. ISRO's Master Control Facility (at Hassan, Karnataka) took over the control of the satellite. In the coming days, four orbit manoeuvres will be conducted from Master Control Facility to position the satellite in the Geosynchronous Orbit at 111.75 deg East longitude with 28.1 deg inclination. 

IRNSS-1E is the fifth of the seven satellites constituting the space segment of the Indian Regional Navigation Satellite System. IRNSS-1A, 1B, 1C and ID, the first four satellites of the constellation, were successfully launched by PSLV on July 02, 2013, April 04, 2014, October 16, 2014 and March 28, 2015 respectively. All the four satellites are functioning satisfactorily from their designated orbital positions. 

IRNSS is an independent regional navigation satellite system designed to provide position information in the Indian region and 1500 km around the Indian mainland. IRNSS would provide two types of services, namely, Standard Positioning Services (SPS) - provided to all users - and Restricted Services (RS), provided to authorised users. 

A number of ground stations responsible for the generation and transmission of navigation parameters, satellite ranging and monitoring, etc., have been established in eighteen locations across the country. In the coming months, the remaining two satellites of this constellation, namely, IRNSS-1F and IG, are scheduled to be launched by PSLV, thereby completing the entire IRNSS constellation. 

GENERAL AWARENESS PRACTICE QUESTIONS FOR ALL BANK EXAMS

1. The Prime Minister's office has constituted a committee to hasten the Mumbai-Ahmadabad High- Speed Rail Corridor, meant for bullet trains between the two cities. Who is the Chairman of this committee?
1) S. Jaishankar
2) A.K. Mittal
3) Arvind Panagariya
4) Amitabh Kant
5) Shaktikanta Das

2. Who was declared the 2015 FIFA Women's World Player of the Year?
1) Celia Sasic
2) Carli Lloyd
3) Aya Miyama
4) Nadine Angerer
5) Hope Solo

3. Which is the first State in India to introduce compulsory gender education at the graduate level?
1) Haryana
2) Gujarat
3) Telangana
4) Kerala
5) Andhra Pradesh

4. Who won the 2015 FIFA Ballon d'Or Award on January 11, 2016?
1) Cristiano Ronaldo
2) Neymar
3) Luis Suarez
4) Lionel Messi
5) Alessandro Florenzi

5. Which is the first Indian city to be a member of the World Tourism Cities Federation (WTCF) council?
1) Mysore
2) Hyderabad
3) Bangalore
4) Gandhinagar
5) Kochi

6. The President of Mozambique visited India in August 2015. Name him?
1) Armando Guebuza
2) Tobias Joaquim Dai
3) Filipe Nyusi
4) James Alix Michel
5) None of these

7. Who replaced Hasmukh Adhia as the Financial Services Secretary on August 31, 2015?
1) Anita Kapur
2) Anjuly Chib Duggal
3) R.S. Gujral
4) L.C. Goyal
5) None of these

8. Keith Rowley assumed office as the Prime Minister of which of the following countries on September 9, 2015?
1) Jamaica
2) Barbados
3) Grenada
4) Trinidad and Tobago
5) Guyana

9. Amalendu Krishna won which of the following awards/prizes in 2015?
1) Ramanujan Prize
2) Saraswati Samman
3) Prem Bhatia Memorial Award
4) Gujar Mal Modi Award
5) Kuvempu National Award

10. The World Tourism Cities Federation (WTCF) is headquartered in?
1) Tokyo
2) Beijing
3) New York
4) Berne
5) Madrid

11. Who among the following is not a chess player?
1) Abhijeet Gupta
2) M.R. Lalith Babu
3) Deep Sengupta
4) Surya Shekar Ganguly
5) Saurav Ghosal

12. Ghoomar is a traditional folk dance of which of the following States in India?
1) Rajasthan
2) Uttar Pradesh
3) West Bengal
4) Odisha
5) Madhya Pradesh

13. Which of the following countries is a member of BIMSTEC?
1) Sudan
2) South Sudan
3) Senegal
4) Seychelles
5) Sri Lanka

14. Who appoints Banking Ombudsman?
1) Government of India
2) State Government
3) Reserve Bank of India
4) Concern bank
5) Indian Banks Association

15. Which country unveiled a major expansion of the new Suez canal on August 6, 2015?
1) Syria
2) Lebanon
3) Egypt
4) Tunisia
5) Ghana

16. Who is the author of the book "Green Signals-Ecology, Growth and Democracy in India"?
1) Kamal Nath
2) Kailash Satyarthi
3) Jairam Ramesh
4) Prakash Javdekar
5) Sandeep Pandey

17. Which of the following cities is the capital of Germany?
1) Bonn
2) Munich
3) Hamburg
4) Berlin
5) Amsterdam

18. Which State government has decided to categorize Dahi Handi as an adventure sport?
1) Uttarakhand
2) Maharashtra
3) Uttar Pradesh
4) Bihar
5) Jharkhand

19. Which of the following days is celebrated as "World Biofuel Day"?
1) June 10
2) July 10
3) August 10
4) September 10
5) October 10

20. Rajiv Mehrishi is currently the Union?
1) Finance Secretary
2) Home Secretary
3) Foreign Secretary
4) Defense Secretary
5) None of these

21. Which of the following terms is used for loans of very small amounts given to low income groups?
1) Rural credit
2) No frills loans
3) Cash credit
4) Micro credit
5) Overdraft

22. Who has joined Amnesty International India as its new Executive Director?
1) Rakesh Mohan
2) Aakar Patel
3) Salil Shetty
4) Subir Gokarn
5) Sabir Bhatia

23. Suvarnabhumi Airport is an international airport in?
1) Jakarta
2) Manila
3) Bangkok
4) Port Louis
5) Colombo

24. Who is the author of the book "Kashmir-The Vajpayee Years"?
1) V.K. Singh
2) N.N. Vohra
3) Karan Singh
4) A.S. Dulat
5) L.K. Advani

25. Which of the following States announced that former President A.P.J. Abdul Kalam's birthday on October 15 would be celebrated as the Youth Revival Day?
1) Andhra Pradesh
2) Telangana
3) Meghalaya
4) Maharashtra
5) Tamil Nadu

26. Who among the following is not a Governor of an Indian State at present?
1) Ram Nath Kovind
2) Keshri Nath Tripathi
3) Acharya Dev Vrat
4) P. Sadashivam
5) Om Prakash Rawat

27. Who among the following won Arjuna Award for 2015 for Athletics?
1) Abhilasha Mhatre
2) Dipa Karmakar
3) Babita Kumari
4) M.R. Poovamma
5) None of these

28. Masdar City is a zero carbon city located in which of the following countries?
1) Iran
2) UAE
3) Saudi Arabia
4) Israel
5) Kuwait

29. The "Nai Manzil" scheme will address educational and livelihood needs of?
1) Tribal people
2) Widows
3) Minority communities
4) Acid attack victims
5) None of these

30. A Centre for World Natural Heritage Management and Training for the Asia and Pacific Region will be established in?
1) Chennai
2) Dehradun
3) Lucknow
4) Coimbatore
5) Chandigarh

31. The Kishanganj Agriculture College has been renamed as "Dr. Kalam Agriculture College". It is in?
1) Bihar
2) Uttar Pradesh
3) Uttarakhand
4) Madhya Pradesh
5) Jharkhand

32. Which of the following banks has launched "Dhanchayat", an educational film to raise awareness on the dangers of borrowing money from unorganized sources?
1) ICICI Bank
2) HDFC Bank
3) Punjab National Bank
4) Bank of Baroda
5) State Bank of India

33. Usha Ananthasubramanian, the CMD of Bharatiya Mahila Bank, has been appointed as the new Managing Director and Chief Executive officer of?
1) Corporation Bank
2) Vijaya Bank
3) Punjab National Bank
4) Indian Bank
5) Indian Overseas Bank

34. BNP Paribas has acquired brokerage firm Sharekhan. BNP Paribas is a banking giant based in?
1) UK
2) Germany
3) Italy
4) France
5) Belgium

35. The rate at which the Reserve Bank of India borrows money from commercial banks is known as?
1) Repo rate
2) Reverse repo rate
3) Base rate
4) Bank rate
5) Prime Lending Rate

36. Who headed the Reserve Bank of India's High Powered Committee on Urban Cooperative Banks (UCBs)?
1) Deepak Mohanty
2) Urjit Patel
3) Shyamla Gopinath
4) Usha Thorat
5) R. Gandhi

ANSWERS:
1) 3 2) 2 3) 3 4) 4 5) 5 6) 3 7) 2 8) 4 9) 1 10) 2
11) 5 12) 1 13) 5 14) 3 15) 3 16) 3 17) 4 18) 2 19) 3 20) 2
21) 4 22) 2 23) 3 24) 4 25) 5 26) 5 27) 4 28) 2 29) 3 30) 2
31) 1 32) 2 33) 3 34) 4 35) 2 36) 5

Top Scheme And Programme Launched By Narendra Modi Government

SN	Govt Scheme	Details
1	Make in India	It was Launched on 25th September 2014 To make India a manufacturing hub. Make in India is an initiative of the Government of India to encourage multinational, as well as domestic, companies to manufacture their products in India. The major objective behind the initiative is to focus on job creation and skill enhancement in twenty-five sectors of the economy
2	Digital India	Launched on 1st July 2015 To transform India’s economy Digital India has three core components. These include: The creation of digital infrastructure Delivering services digitally Digital literacy
3	Skill India	Launched on 15th July 2015) To create jobs for youth of the Country Skill Development in Youth Making Skill available to All Youth of India
4	Smart Cities	Launched on 29th April 2015 In first Government of india Will Develop 100 Smart cities in India Under this Scheme Cities from all States Are Selected
5	Unearthen Black Money	Bill Passed on 14th May 2015 Disclosing Black Money Punishment for The Black Money holders
6	Namami Gange	Namami Gange Project or Namami Ganga Yojana is an ambitious Union Government Project which integrates the efforts to clean and protect the Ganga river in a comprehensive manner. It its maiden budget, the government announced Rs. 2037 Crore towards this mission. The project is officially known as Integrated Ganga Conservation Mission project or ‘Namami Ganga Yojana’. This project aims at Ganga Rejuvenation by combining the existing ongoing efforts and planning under it to create a concrete action plan for future.
7	Swachh Bharat Abhiyan	Launched on 2nd October 2014) To have clean India by 2nd October 2019 Eliminate open defecation by constructing toilets for households, communities Eradicate manual scavenging Introduce modern and scientific municipal solid waste management practices Enable private sector participation in the sanitation sector Change people’s attitudes to sanitation and create awareness
8	Swadesh Darshan	Integrated Development of Theme Based Buddhist tourist circuit
9	Sukanya Samridhi Account	Launched on 22nd January 2015 The scheme was launched by Prime Minister Narendra Modi on 22 January 2015 as a part of the Beti Bachao, Beti Padhao campaign. The scheme currently provides an interest rate of 9.2% and tax benefits. The account can be opened at any India Post office or a branch of some authorised commercial banks
10	Bal swachh mission	Launched on 14th November 2014) Awareness about the cleanliness of the children
11	Pradhan Mantri Jan Dhan Yojana	Launched on 28th August 2014 ) To give financial services to weaker section of society.
12	Pradhan Mantri Suraksha Bima Yojana	Launched on 9th May 2015 Eligibility: Available to people in age group 18 to 70 years with bank account. Premium:  Rs.12 per annum. Payment Mode: The premium will be directly auto-debited by the bank from the subscribers account. This is the only mode available. Risk Coverage:  For accidental death and full disability – Rs.2 Lakh and for partial disability – Rs.1 Lakh. Eligibility: Any person having a bank account and Aadhaar number linked to the bank account can give a simple form to the bank every year before 1st of June in order to join the scheme.  Name of nominee to be given in the form.
13	Beti Bachao Beti Padhao Yojana	(Launched on 22nd January 2015)-To generate awareness of welfare service meants for girl child and women.
14	Atal Pension Scheme	(Launched on 9th May 2015)-for unorganised sector ‘s workers
15	HRIDAY (National Heritage City Development and Augmentation Yojana) scheme	(Launched on 21st January 2015)-To develop heritage cities.
16	Pradhan Mantri Jeevan Jyoti Bima Yojana	(Launched on 9th May 2015)-Life insurance scheme by Government
17	MUDRA Bank Yojana	(Launched on 8th April 2015) to provide up to 10 lakh to small entrepreneur.
18	Krishi Amani Bima Yojana	Scheme for farmer
19	Pradhan Mantri Gram Sinchai Yojana	To provide water to all field in the Country.
20	Pradhan Mantri Sansad Adarsh Gram Yojana	(Launched on 11th October 2014)-Each MP to develop three villages by 2019.
21	Deen Dayal Upadhyaya Grameen Kaushalya Yojana	(Launched on 25th September 2014)- To provide employmentto youth residing in rural area.
22	Deendayal Upadhyaya Gram Jyoti Yojana	To provide power(electricity) to rural area of the country.
23	Mahatma Gandhi Pravasi Suraksha Yojana	Mahatma Gandhi Pravasi Suraksha Yojana is a special social security scheme which includes Pension and Life Insurance, introduced by Ministry of Overseas Indian Affairs for the overseas Indian workers in possession of Emigration Check Required (ECR) passports. It is a voluntary scheme designed to help workers to meet their three financial needs: saving for retirement, saving for their return and resettlement, and providing free life insurance offering coverage for death from natural causes.
24	Indradanush Scheme	(Launched on 25th December 2014)
25	Soil Health Card Scheme	Soil Health Card Scheme is a scheme launched by the Government of India in February 2015. Under the scheme, the government plans to issue soil cards to farmers which will carry crop-wise recommendations of nutrients and fertilisers required for the individual farms to help farmers to improve productivity through judicious use of inputs. All soil samples are to be tested in various soil testing labs across the country. Thereafter the experts will analyse the strength and weaknesses (micro-nutrients deficiency) of the soil and suggest measures to deal with it. The result and suggestion will be displayed in the cards. The government plans to issue the cards to 14 crore farmers
26	Rani Laxmi Bai Pension scheme	For victims of Muzazafar nagar riot.
27	Udaan Scheme	To provide skill to youth of India.
28	Shyama Prasad Mukherji Rurban Mission	The Mission aims at development of rural growth clusters which have latent potential for growth, in all States and UTs, which would trigger overall development in the region. These clusters would be developed by provisioning of economic activities, developing skills & local entrepreneurship and providing infrastructure amenities. The Rurban Mission will thus develop a cluster of Smart Villages.
29	Pandit Deendayal Upadhyay Shramev Jayate Karyakram	(Launched on 16th October 2014)
30	Kisan Vikas Patra	(Relaunched in 2014) – Saving certificate Scheme
31	AMRUT	Atal Mission for Rejuvenation and Urban Development (earlier name JNNURM)
32	PRASAD	Pilgrimage Rejuvenation and Spiritual Augmentation-To improve the infrastructure at pilgrimage places.
33	Pradhan Mantri Fasal Bima Yojana	The Union Cabinet has approved Pradhan Mantri Fasal Bima Yojana It is a new crop insurance scheme to boost farming sector in the country. It is farmers’ welfare scheme The Scheme aims to reduce the premium burden on farmers and ensure early settlement of crop Insurance claim for the full insured sum.We Will cover this Scheme In details in Separate Article

List of 61st Filmfare Awards 2016

The Filmfare Awards were held on January 15, 2016 at Sardar Vallabhbhai Patel Stadium in Mumbai. Sanjay Leela Bhansali's Bajirao Mastani and Shoojit Sircar's 'Piku' were the big winners.

Here is the complete list of winners from 61st Filmfare Awards 2015 —

Best Film - Bajirao Mastani
Best Director - Sanjay Leela Bhansali for Bajirao Mastani
Best Actor in a Leading Role (Male) - Ranveer Singh for Bajirao Mastani
Best Actor in a Leading Role (Female) - Deepika Padukone for Piku
Best Actor in a Supporting Role (Male) - Anil Kapoor for Dil Dhadakne Do
Best Actor in a Supporting Role (Female) - Priyanka Chopra for Bajirao Mastani
Best Music - Ankit Tiwari, Meet Bros. Anjjan and Amaal Mallik for Roy
Best Lyrics - Irshad Kamil for Agar tum saath ho (Tamasha)
Best Playback Singer (Male) - Arijit Singh for Sooraj dooba (Roy)
Best Playback Singer (Female) - Shreya Ghoshal for Deewani mastani (Bajirao Mastani)
Critics Choice Best Film - Piku
Critics Choice Best Actor (Male) - Amitabh Bachchan for Piku
Critics Choice Best Actor (Female) - Kangana Ranaut for Tanu Weds Manu Returns
Lifetime Achievement Award - Moushumi Chatterjee
RD Burman Award - Armaan Mallik
Best Debut Director - Neeraj Ghaywan for Masaan
Best Debut (Female) - Bhumi Pednekar for Dum Laga Ke Haisha
Best Debut (Male) - Sooraj Pancholi for Hero
Best Action - Sham Kaushal for Bajirao Mastani
Best Background Score - Anupam Roy for Piku
Best Choreography - Pt Birju Maharaj for Mohe rang do laal (Bajirao Mastani)
Best Cinematography - Manu Anand for Dum Laga Ke Haisha
Best Costume - Anju Modi and Maxima Basu for Bajirao Mastani
Best Dialogue - Himanshu Sharma for Tanu Weds Manu Returns
Best Editing - A Sreekar Prasad for Talvar
Best Production Design - Sujeet Sawant, Sriram Iyengar and Saloni Dhatrak for Bajirao Mastani
Best Screenplay - Juhi Chaturvedi for Piku
Best Sound Design - Shajith Koyeri for Talvar
Best Story  - Vijayendra Prasad for Bajrangi Bhaijaan
Best VFX - Prana Studio for Bombay Velvet