GROUND ZERO DEFENCE INSTITUTE
January 2016
• 31 members of Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) have signed corporate tax
avoidance agreement in a bid to stem fiscal (tax) evasion by multinational companies (MNCs).
• Sudan has offered ONGC Videsh Ltd, the overseas investment arm of ONGC, three more oil and gas blocks
for exploration and production. Sudan has also sought the help of Indian firms to set up a coastal refinery
• Konkan Railway Corporation Ltd (KRCL) has announced plans to construct railway siding facility for
Mangalore Refinery and Petrochemicals Ltd (MRPL) in Mangaluru.
• After completion, around 2,800 tonnes of products are expected to be transported by railway everyday.
• Bharat Heavy Electricals Ltd has announced it has commissioned a 520-MW coal-based thermal generating
unit of the Hinduja Group near Visakhapatnam in Andhra Pradesh.
• IRB Infrastructure Developers Ltd, a Mumbai-based road developer bagged the Rs.10050 crore Zojila Pass
tunnel road project in Jammu and Kashmir.
• India’s biggest state owned gas importer Petronet LNG has signed a revised contract with RasGas of Qatar to
import gas at a significantly lower price than earlier.
• Union Government and Asian Development Bank (ADB) have signed $80million loan agreement to improve
urban services in two North Eastern cities Agartala and Aizwal.
• Rajasthan Government along with its power distribution companies (DISCOMS) has signed a MoU to join
• State DISCOMS part of this MoU are Jaipur VidyutVitran Nigam Limited (JVNL), Jodhpur VidyutVitran Nigam
Limited (JVVNL) and Ajmer VidyutVitran Nigam Limited (AVNL).
• Andhra Pradesh Government has launched GiriputrikaKalyanaPathakam Scheme to support the tribal
women in their quest for livelihood.
The NaiManzil scheme was launched for the first time in Jammu and Kashmir. The scheme was launched for
girls in Srinagar in three institutions- Skill Development Centre, University of Kashmir and two Madarsas. With 3 month skill development & 4500 Rs stipend.
• The country’s first ‘water tourism’ will begin in Madhya Pradesh next month with the aim of attracting more
tourists to the state.Named as ‘Jal Mahotsav’, the 10-day extravaganza will be inaugurated in Hanuwantiya at IndraSagar Dam,one of Asia’s largest man-made water reservoir.
• A freshly-trained contingent of 500 women personnel will become the first 'mahila' squad to be deployed in
high-altitude posts along the India-China border. The squad was commissioned into the Indo-Tibetan Border
Police (ITBP) in Panchkula.
Sikkim becomes India’s first fully Organic state
• The Union Cabinet chaired by the Prime Minister Shri Narendra Modi has approved the ‘Pradhan MantriFasal
BimaYojana’ - a path breaking scheme for farmers’ welfare. The highlights of this scheme are:
a)There will be a uniform premium of only 2% to be paid by farmers for all Kharif crops and 1.5% for all Rabi
crops. In case of annual commercial and horticultural crops, the premium to be paid by farmers will be only
5%.
b) The premium rates to be paid by farmers are very low and balance premium will be paid by the
Government to provide full insured amount to the farmers against crop loss on account of natural
calamities.
- Telangana becomes first State to make gender education compulsory.
- BHEL commissioned 600 MW Kakatiya Thermal Power Plant Stage-II in Telangana
February 2016
1. 12th South Asian Games began in Guwahati on 5th February 2016.
2. 50% of government jobs in Assam will be reserved for women, Chief Minister TarunGogoi
recently announced.
3. A 12-member team of the Indian Army was participated in the “Cobra Gold” multilateral
exercises, which was hosted by Thailand, along with its counterparts from China and Pakistan.
4. A report by the Central Electricity Authority has stated that power generation in India grew by
6% in January 2016
5. According to a recently released United Nation's report, India has been named the third most
disaster-hit nation in 2015.
6 . According to recently released MHRD data, 96 million schoolchildren were covered under the
Midday Meal Scheme in 2015-16.
7. According to SocialCops analysis of data from the National Tiger Conservation Authority, the
tiger population (over 1.5 years of age) in India has increased since 2006.
8. After scoring a total of 199 runs in three T20Is against Australia at an average of 199.00, Virat
Kohli became the top-ranked T20I batsman in the world.
9. American space agency NASA has invited the Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) among
other space agencies for a meeting in the US to discuss a possible international collaboration on
a Mars mission
10. Bihar became the 6th state to join Union Government’s UDAY Scheme for financial restructuring
of debt of power distribution companies. [after Rajasthan, Chhattisgarh, Jharkhand, Uttar
Pradesh and Gujarat
11 . British Formula One racing team Manor Racing has signed Indonesia’s Rio Haryanto, making him
the first Indonesian Formula One driver.
12. Dubai International Airport was declared the world's busiest airport for international passengers
in 2015.
13. Employees' Provident Fund Organisation (EPFO) announced an increase in interest rate on
Provident Fund (PF) deposits for 2015-16 to 8.80% from 8.75% in the previous two fiscals.
14. For the first time in India, a job fair for the transgender community was organised in Chennai.
15. India and Afghanistan recently signed a MOU for Visa-Free Travel for diplomats.
16. India and Brunei signed three agreements. They are, MoU in health cooperation, MoU on
Defence cooperation and MOU on cooperation in youth and sports affairs.
17. India and Nepal signed Nine partnership deals to help develop infrastructure, improve cultural
cooperation, and utilise India's $250 million post-earthquake reconstruction grant.
18. India and UAE signed seven agreements on cybersecurity, insurance and infrastructure
development in a bid to improve bilateral ties.
19. India continues to remain the world's largest arms importer, accounting for 14% of the global
imports in the 2011- 2015 timeframe, in yet another indicator of the country's enduring failure
to build a strong domestic defence-industrial base (DIB).
20. India has launched the lightest gun ever which weighs as less as 250 grams, and it has been
named 'Nidar'.
21. India ranks first in Milk Production, accounting for 18.5% of World production.
22. India test-fired its indigenously developed Prithvi II missile from a test range at Chandipur in
Odisha, as part of a user trial by the army.
23. India women cricket team clean sweep three match ODI series against Sri Lanka.
24. India’s largest lender State Bank of India (SBI) has launched ‘Japan Desk’, a single window for
inbound Japanese investments in India and viceversa.
25. India’s poorest district, Nabarangpur of Odisha launched a 45-day campaign, called 'Jyoti', to
train 4,400 traditional healers as the number of tribal children falling victim to local healing
practices in the district has increased.
26. India's first transgender sub inspector PrithikaHasini along with 21 other members of the
community recently received appointment orders.
27. India's Tourism Ministry has proposed that all international visitors using the electronic Tourist
Visa facility get SIM cards on arrival.
28. Sindh became the first Pakistan province to adopt landmark Hindu Marriage Bill, 2015 in order
to allow the minority community to register their marriages.
29. Slovenian high-jumper RozlePrezelj has been elected the new Chairman of the International
Association of Athletics Federations (IAAF) Athletes' Commission.
30. The Ministry of Railways signed an MoU with Government of Chhattisgarh for “Formation of
Joint Venture Companies for Development of Railway Infrastructure in Chhattisgarh State".
31. The 13th edition of World Spice Congress (WSC) was held at Ahmedabad, Gujarat. Theme of
WSC 2016 : ‘Target 2020: Clean, Safe and Sustainable Supply Chain’
32. The Haryana government launched the 'KanyaJanamdinUtsav', to celebrate birthdays of girl
students, with their parents.
33. The HRD Ministry announced to make the installation of the national flag compulsory in all
central universities on a 207 feet high mast on their campuses to signify "strong and united
India.”
34. The ICC removed India, England and Australia as the permanent members of its decision-making
executive committee
MARCH 2016
1. A 108-feet tall idol of Rishabh deva, the first Teerthankar of Jains, has entered the Guinness World Records as the world's tallest Jain statue.
2. According to the World Happiness Report 2016 published by the United Nations, India has ranked 118th out of 156 nations in a global list of happiest nations.
3. Denmark takes the top spot as the happiest country in the world.
4. After the ambitious Make in India Week, Mumbai will host another international summit, the BRICS Friendship Cities Conclave, on April 14.
5. Allahabad High Court has celebrated 150 years of its existence.
6. Andhra Pradesh government inaugurated India’s first river linking project viz. Pattiseema lift irrigation project connecting Godavari River with Krishna River from the ongoing Polavaram Multi-purpose Irrigation Project.
7. Australian golfer Adam Scott won the 2016 WGC-Cadillac Championship.
8. Bharat Heavy Electricals Limited (BHEL) announced that it successfully commissioned a 600 MW coal-based thermal power plant in Telangana.
9. Bharat Heavy Electricals Ltd (BHEL) has commissioned its first 700-MW supercritical thermal unit in Karnataka. 'Bharat KesriDangal', a freestyle wrestling tournament of 3 days, recently held at Gurgaon.
10. China plans to land a probe on Mars in 2021 to coincide with the 100th anniversary of the Communist Party of China, the sole governing political party of the country.
11. Citizens of Bhutan planted 1,08,000 trees to welcome the birth of a son to King Khesar and Queen Pema.
12. Denmark's 17-year-old Mohamad Al-Bacha was crowned the FIFA'16 world champion after winning the final in New York Dubai has announced to host the Robot Olympics in December 2017.
13. European and Russian space agencies have successfully launched ExoMars Trace Gas Orbiter, an unmanned spacecraft on a mission to find evidence of alien life that exists or may have existed on Mars
14. Germany has announced that it will help India to develop 3 Indian cities as Smart Cities. They are, Kerala's Kochi, Tamil Nadu's Coimbatore and Odisha's Bhubaneswar.
15. Hanle village in Ladakh was short-listed as a prospective site to house the World's largest telescope named 'Thirty Metre Telescope International Observatory', estimated to be worth around 98.26 crore.
16. India has won the 2016 Asia Cup T20 trophy for a record sixth time after beating Bangladesh by 8 wickets in the final.
17. India Inc. became first in the world to formally adopt the United Nations’ (UN) agenda for the world’s sustainable development and 17 goals identified for its implementation.
18. Indian wrestler Hardeep has became the first Indian wrestler since Mausam Khatri 12 years ago to book a quota place for 2016 Rio Olympics in the Greco-Roman category.
19. India's Agasthyamala Biosphere Reserve has been added to UNESCO's World Network of Biosphere Reserve among 20 new sites.
21. Karnataka government has launched MukhyamantriSantwana Harish Yojana to provide Free medical treatment to road accident victims for the first 48 hours (2 days) in the nearest government or private hospital.
22. Nuclear-capable ballistic missile Agni-I was successfully test fired from a mobile launcher from the Integrated Test Range (ITR) at Odisha's Abdul Kalam Island.
23. Prime Minister Narendra Modi and his Belgian counterpart Charles Michel remotely launched Asia's biggest telescope, the Aryabhatta Research Institute of Observational Sciences (ARIES), built with Belgian assistance.
24. Prime Minister Narendra Modi has launched 'KisanSuvidha' app for farmers to provide information on weather, market prices, seeds, fertilisers, crop protection and agricultural machinery
25. Prime Minister Narendra Modi today inaugurated the ambitious Rs 50,800-crore SetuBharatam project, under which a total of 208 railway crossings will be replaced by rail over bridges (ROBs).
26. Prime Minister Narendra Modi was on a three nation visit to Belgium, United States & Saudi Arabia.
Private lender Lakshmi Vilas Bank has tied up with National Bulk Handling Corporation (NBHC) for Collateral Management and Warehousing Services.
27. Rest of India has won the Irani Cup Cricket title by beating Mumbai by four wickets.
28. Scientists from Japan have discovered a new species of bacteria, called Ideonellasakaiensis 201-F6, that can eat plastic.
29. The 4th Nuclear Security Summit -2016 was held in Washington DC, the United States.
April 2016
1. A Nanosatellite named PISAT, developed by 250 students of PES University in Bengaluru will soon be launched by Indian Space Research Organization (ISRO).
2. At least 171 nations, including India, have signed the Paris climate agreement at the UN headquarters.
3. Australia has won the 25th edition of Sultan Azlan Shah Hockey Tournament 2016 for record ninth time
4. Europe has become the world’s first region to wipe out Malaria, a mosquito-borne vetor disease with zero cases reported in the year 2015.
5. EvgeniaMedvedeva, a 16- year-old figure skater from Russia, won the World Figure Skating Championship in Boston, US.
6.Government has reconstituted Indira Gandhi National Centre for Arts (IGNCA) board.
7. The Committee will be headed by : Ashok Lahiri (former Chief Economic Advisor) Greece passed an Asylum amendment bill that is needed for the implementation of the European Union-Turkey migrant deal that will take effect soon.
8. Haryana government has decided to rename its largest city Gurgaon to 'Gurugram'.
9. Heart of Asia (HoA) conference was held in New Delhi. Focus of the conference was to bring peace and stability to Afghanistan.
10. India and South Korea signed a MoU for cooperation and mutual assistance in development of ports.
11. India and Sri Lanka have signed an MOU to supply 150 boats and fishing equipment to the fishermen of Mullaitivu.
12. India extended a Line of Credit (LoC) of 1 billion US dollars to Mongolia.
13. India has banned the import of milk and milk products from China after finding them substandard
14. India has jumped three places to rank 133 out of 180 countries in the 2016 World Press Freedom Index released by Reporters Without Borders. Finland has ranked first for the sixth consecutive year, and is followed by Netherlands and Norway.
15. India has overtaken China as the world's top destination for Foreign Direct Investment by attracting greenfield capital investment worth $63 billion in 2015.
16. India’s indigenously developed surface-to-air Akash missile was test fired for second consecutive day from the Integrated Test Range (ITR) at Chandipur near Balasore in Odisha.
17. Indian artistic gymnast DipaKarmakar has created history by becoming the first Indian woman gymnast to qualify for Olympics.
18. Madhya Pradesh CM Shivraj Singh Chouhan has announced plans to set up a 'Department of Happiness' to infuse "positivity" into the lives of people.
19. Mairaj Ahmad Khan has won the Silver medal in the skeet event at the ISSF Shooting World Cup in Rio de Janeiro.
20. The HRD Ministry has announced IIT Madras and IIM Bangalore as the best engineering and management institutes respectively in India.
21. The Indian Navy has recently announced that women officers completing seven years with the Navy will be eligible for permanent commission in the law, education and naval constructors branches.
22. The Indo-Tibetan Border Police (ITBP) is going to build Exclusive Holiday homes for its jawans.
23. The International e Games Committee (IEGC) has announced that Brazil's Rio de Janeiro will host the first “E Olympics”, an e Games tournament coinciding with the upcoming Rio Summer Olympics in August 2016.
24. The Lok Sabha passed the Regional Centre for Biotechnology Bill, 2016 to provide statutory status to the existing Regional Centre for Biotechnology in Faridabad, Haryana.
25. The Stockholm International Peace Research Institute (SIPRI) has ranked India 6th in its biggest military spenders list for 2015.
26. The Tamil Nadu Agricultural University (TNAU) has reserved seats for Transgenders under the Most Backward Class Category (MBC).
May 2016
- Geetakshi Arora of South Asia institute won the first Noor Inayat Khan prize in London.
- British mathematician Andrew Wiles was named as the winner of the prestigious 2016 Abel Prize .
- Priyanka Kakodkar&Raksha Kumar were named as joint winner s of Chameli Devi Jain award for women journalist
- The loksabha passed constitution order bill 2016 to include certain communities in the list of Scheduled castes from four states namely Chhattisgarh, Haryana, Kerala, West Bengal, Odisha
- Oscar awards 2016
1.Best Picture – Spotlight2. Best Actor – Leonardo Di Caprio (The revenant)
3. Best actress – Brie Larson4. Best foreign language film – Son of Saul
- Aadhar bill 2016 passed. It aimed at transferring government subsidies & benefits to people.
- Pradhan MantriUjjwalaYojana approved. The scheme aims at providing free of cost LPG connections to women from BPL households
- BIMSTEC convention on mutual legal assistance in criminal matter approved.
- IAF conducted day night exercise ‘Iron Fist’ in Rajasthan.
- India Seychelles joint training exercise lamitye 2016 concluded at Victoria, Maheisland in Seychelles.
- Pawan Hans & IRCTC have joined hands to promote helicopter tourism by managing various catering & hospitality outlets.
- India & France have signed an MoU for a joint committee on science &technology, cooperation.
- India &Maldieves have inked for avoidance of double taxation
- India has signed an MoU with UAE on technical cooperation in Cyber Space & combating Cyber crime
- India will supply 18 meter gauge Diesel electric locomotives to Myanmar to meet increasing demand.
- India adopted UN’s sustainable development goals & became first in the world to formally adopt.
- India ranked 118th out of 157 countries on UN world happiness Index 2016.
- Union government gave their approval for Atal Innovation mission &self employment and talent utilization in NITI aayog.
- Agasthyamala biosphere reserved was included in UNESCO.
- Agni I Ballistic missile successfully test fired for trial purpose on A P J kalam island off the coast of Odisha.
- HtinKyaw sworn in as President of Myanmar.
- 47th Dada SahebPhalke award will be given to veteran Bollywood actor HarikrishnaGiriGoswami, popularly known as Manoj Kumar.
- ‘In other words’ is a book written by JhumpaLahiri. It is an attempt to reclaim herself& to forge a new direction in her work.
- India recently commissioned a coast guard patrol vessel in Visakhapatnam named - ICGS Arnvesh
- 8th annual summit of BRICS will be hosted by India on October 15-16, 2016 in Goa.
- Defending champion services defeated Maharashtra at SEC railway stadium, Nagpur to retain senior national football championship title, also known as Santosh trophy.
June 2016