GK BOOSTER OF MAY 2015

GK BOOSTER OF MAY 2015

1. Yaduveer Krishnadatta Chamaraja Wadiyar was crowned as the new ‘Maharaja’ at the Amba
Vilas Palace in Mysuru .
2. Forum for Human Rights and Justice (FHRJ) organised a Marathon named as Ajanmi Beti Ke
liye Daud (Protecting the Unborn Girl) in Shimla, Himachal Pradesh. The objective of this
Marathon is to save girl child and arrest the declining sex ratio in the hill state.
3. State government of Tripura decided to withdraw the Armed Forces (Special Powers) Act
(AFSPA), 1958 from the remaining areas of the state with immediate effect.
4. Shantanu Khosla resigned as the Managing Director (MD) of Procter and Gamble (P&G),
India.
5. Former UK Prime Minister Tony Blair resigned as the Special Envoy of the Middle East
Quartet. He sent his resignation to the United Nations (UN) Secretary General Ban Ki-moon and
is expected to officially step down in June 2015.
6. NATO launched the Arctic Challenge Exercise based in the north of Norway, Sweden and
Finland. The exercise involves 115 fighter planes and 3600 troops from nine countries.
7. Manabi Bandopadhyay became the first transgender principal of Krishnagar Women's
College in Nadia district, West Bengal.
8. Lt General (Retd) Nirbhay Sharma was today sworn-in as the Governor of Mizoram at the
Durbar Hall of Raj Bhavan
9. The country's largest lender State Bank of India said the government has appointed Rajnish
Kumar as the Managing Director - Compliance and Risk department.
10. Prime Minister Narendra Modi on the first anniversary of NDA government launched an
exclusive Doordarshan's 24x7 channel DD Kisan, dedicated to the farmers.
11. Trevor Bayliss was appointed as the head coach of England cricket team . With this
appointment, 52-year-old Bayliss became the first Australian to coach England.
12. Forbes released the list of World’s 100 Most Powerful Women of 2015 showing women who
impacted businesses, media, philanthropy, politics and more.
Four Indians have been named in Forbes magazine’s 12th annual list of World’s 100 most
powerful women. They are
Arundhati Bhattacharya: First woman (and youngest) Chairperson of State Bank of India
(SBI) was placed at 30th position.

Chanda Kochhar: Managing Director (MD) and CEO of India’s largest private sector lender
ICICI Bank was placed at 35th position.
Kiran Mazumdar-Shaw: Founder, Chairman and MD of Biocon Limited was placed at 85th
position.
Shobhana Bhartia: Chairperson and Editorial Director of the Hindustan Times Group was
placed at 93rd position. It should be noted she has appeared on the list for the first time.
Top 10 powerful women: German Chancellor Angela Merkel (1st), Hillary Clinton (2nd),
Melinda Gates (3rd), US Federal Reserve Chair Janet Yellen (3th), GM CEO Mary Barra (5th),
IMF Chief Christine Lagarde (6th), Brazilian President Dilma Rousseff (7th), Facebook COO
Sheryl Sandberg (8th), YouTube CEO Susan Wojcicki (9th) and US First Lady Michelle Obama
(10th).
13. India and Vietnam signed a Joint Vision Statement on Defence Cooperation for the period
2015-2020 in New Delhi. It was signed by the Indian Defence Minister Manohar Parrikar and the
Vietnamese Minister for National Defence General Phung Quang Thanh.
14. National Association of Software and Services Companies (NASSCOM) and Data Security
Council of India have launched NASSCOM Cyber Security Task Force.
15. State forest department of Himachal Pradesh has set up the satellite tracking system to check
the forest fire incidents during summer season. The system was launched with an aim to preserve
the precious forest fire incidents during summer season.
16. Veena Jain was appointed as Director General (news) in Doordarshan. She succeeded senior
Indian Information Service (IIS) officer Akshay Rout.
17. VA Prasanth was appointed as the Chief Financial Officer (CFO) of the Indian Bank with
immediate effect. Before this appointment, he was serving as the General Manager of the Indian
Bank. Prasanth succeeded K Srinivasa Raghavan.
18. FIFA President Joseph Sepp Blatter was re-elected as President
for the fifth term. He was chosen for the post by the 65th FIFA Congress held in Zurich.
19. The international Day of United Nations Peacekeepers was observed on 29 May 2015 with
the theme Together for Peace.
20. The Reserve Bank of India released the Draft Guidelines on Net Stable Funding Ratio
(NSFR) under Basel III Framework on Liquidity Standards for banks. The Reserve Bank
proposed to make NSFR applicable to all banks in India from 1 January 2018. The objective of
NSFR is to ensure that banks maintain a stable funding profile in relation to their assets and offbalance
sheet activities.

21. The Reserve Bank of India proposed to introduce Prepaid Payment Instruments (PPI) for
Mass Transit System (PPI-MTS).
These PPI-MTS will be semi-closed instruments that will be used facilitate the migration to
electronic payments in line with the country’s vision of moving to a less-cash society.
22. Former Singapore Foreign Minister George Yeo will be the new Chancellor of the Nalanda
University, the Ministry of External Affairs announced
23. 'Jai Ho', a documentary based on music maestro AR Rahman’s life, was screened at the
White House.
The film, directed by Umesh Aggarwal, traces the journey of the Oscar and Grammy winning
music composer’s professional and personal life
24. Eminent scientist Dr. S Christopher was appointed as the Director General (DG) of the
Defence Research and Development Organisation (DRDO)
25. Government-owned lender State Bank of India launched Online Customer Acquisition
Solution (OCAS), an online platform to apply for home loans, car loans, education loans and
personal loans.
26. Sevilla Football Club (FC) won Europa League title. In the final clash at National Stadium
Warsaw, Poland, Sevilla defeated Dnipro Dnipropetrovsk football club, 3-2.
27. Yogathon is an event that will be celebrated in more than 100 US cities on 21 June 2015, the
first International Yoga Day. It is a type of campaign to spread the awareness about Yoga.
28. Celebrated American Photographer Mary Ellen Mark died at Manhattan in New York, USA.
29. India is home to the highest number of hungry people in the world, at 194 million, surpassing
China, according to United Nations annual hunger report.
30. Indian-origin entrepreneur Ranjit Singh Baxi was elected as the Head of the Bureau of
International Recycling, a global organisation that facilitates free and fair trade of recyclables in
a sustainable and competitive world economy.
31. Search engine giant Google aims to bring 20 million small and medium businesses in India
online by 2017 through its mobile app, Google My Business (GMB).
32. MasterCard and the Confederation of All India Traders (CAIT) on Tuesday announced a
joint initiative to promote the digitisation of payments among Indian traders.
32. Delhi Government approved mandatory Global Positioning System (GPS) in all public
transport vehicles from June 2015.


33. The decision was taken keeping in view the security and safety of commuters, especially
women. The GPS devices will be available from Driving Licence Appointment and Payment
System (DIMTS).
34. The Complete Story of Indian Reforms: 2G, Power & Private Enterprise: A Practitioner's
Diary: Pradeep Baijal Former Telecom Regulatory Authority of India (TRAI) chairman Pradip
Baijal’s book The Complete Story of Indian Reforms: 2G, Power & Private Enterprise: A
Practitioner's Diary was in news in fourth week of May 2015.
35. Ciudad Acuna in Mexico was in news as it was hit by a tornado killing at least 13 people and
injuring several.
36. Indian boxers won three Gold medals and two silver medals at World Junior Women's
boxing Championship. The event was held at Taipei in Taiwan.Savita (50kg), Mandeep Sandhu
(52kg) and Sakshi (54kg) struck gold for the country, while Soniya (48kg) and Niharika Gonella
(70kg) settled for silver medals.
38. Argentine footballer Cristian Gomez died during a game . Gomez, 27, of Atletico Parana
collapsed on the pitch during a second-tier game against Boca Unidos
39. Manoj Mishra was appointed as the Chairman and Managing Director (CMD) of state-run
National Fertilizers Limited (NFL).
40. ICICI Bank, India’s largest private sector bank, launched a voice recognition service which
authenticates customers based on their speech patterns and allows them to execute banking
transactions through the bank’s call centre.
41. Creating a record of sorts, an 11-year-old Indian-American schoolboy has surprised one and
all by graduating from a California college with three associate degrees in maths, science and
foreign language studies.
42. China, the world's biggest gold producer, has set up a gold sector fund involving countries
along the ancient Silk Road which is expected to raise USD 16.1 billion.
43. Uttar Pradesh Government amended State Film Policy to woo tourism. Chief Minister of
Uttar Pradesh (UP) Akhilesh Yadav inaugurated the UP Film Bnadhus’s Website and signed a
Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) to set up a film city.
44. Mindful of the impact of frauds on banks' financials, the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) will
soon set up a Central Fraud Registry as part of an early warning system.
45. The idea is to set up a structure for quick sharing of information about unscrupulous
borrowers and help banks fight bad loans

46, Bilateral naval exercise SIMBEX-15 between India and Singapore commenced in Singapore.
47. Indian film Masaan has won the prestigious critics prize in the Un Certain Regard category at
the 68th Cannes Film Festival
48. Two Indian peacekeepers have been chosen posthumously for United Nation’s Dag
Hammarskjold Medal. They are Lance Naik Nand Ram and Raju Joseph.
49. China-based Huawei Technologies Co. Ltd launched LiteOS operating sytem meant for
Internet of Things (IoT) based devices.
50. The Republic of Ireland voted strongly in favour of legalising same sex marriage in a
referendum held today in which more than 3.2 million people cast their vote.
51. AIADMK leader J Jayalalithaa was sworn in as the Chief Minister of Tamil Nadu for the
fifth time today along with a 28-member Cabinet.
52. A Vellayan was stepped aside from the chairmanship of the Murugappa Group Corporate
Board. He also relinquished the post of Chairman in the Coromandel International Ltd. and the
EID Parry India Ltd.
53. Badminton World Federation (BWF) released the latest single’s rankings. The ranking was
topped by Ace shuttler Saina Nehwal. She was followed by Li Xuerui of China.
54. The Appointments Committee of the Cabinet (ACC) gave its nod for appointing G Mohan
Kumar as the Secretary of the Ministry of Defence (MoD).
55. Department of Science and Technology said that India reached sixth position in terms of
scientific publications. Earlier, India stood at the tenth position in terms of publishing scientific
research papers in different journals.
56. ArcelorMittal, the world’s largest steelmaker, and state-run Steel Authority of India (SAIL)
have signed an MoU for setting up an auto-grade steel unit in the country.
57. Akhil Amar, an Indian-American professor from Yale University, was appointed as a
member of the prestigious National Council on Humanities of United States (US) by President
Barack Obama.
58. Mahindra & Mahindra’s (M&M) Executive Director Pawan Goenka was appointed Honorary
Ambassador of Foreign Investment Promotion for Korea at a ceremony held in Mumbai.
59. India has ranked 24th out of 70 countries in the first Environmental Democracy Index that is
topped by Lithuania and evaluates nations’ progress in enacting laws to promote transparency,
accountability and citizen engagement in environmental decision-making.

60. An Indian-origin councillor on Friday took charge as the mayor of Britain’s Wokingham
Borough Council, the first-ever Sikh to hold this position.
61. Chief Minister of Tamil Nadu O Panneerselvam resigned . He tendered his resignation to the
Governor Konijeti Rosaiah.
62. The World Bank approved 250 million US dollar credit for the Enhancing Teacher
Effectiveness in Bihar Programme. The credit will be provided to improve the effectiveness of
elementary school teachers in Bihar by making them more qualified, accountable and responsive.
63. State of Bank of India (SBI) on entered into a seller financing scheme with e-com major
Snapdeal. Under the scheme, SBI will provide loans to small and medium enterprises at easier
interest rates.
64. State Bank of India (SBI), on Thursday, entered into a strategic partnership with digital
payments company, PayPal, to facilitate cross-border trade and payments.
65. India's National Payments Corporation of India (NPCI), which runs the RuPay payment card
network, has received the Reserve Bank of India's approval to tie up with the Chinese
government-supported payment card network China UnionPay International.
66. President of the United States (US) Barack Obama entered Guinness Book of World Record
for reaching a million followers in a span of mere 5 hours after going live.Barack Obama
debuted on Social Media Platform Twitter with @POTUS account.
67. Anti-Terrorism Day was observed across India on 21 May 2015. The day is annually
observed on the death anniversary of seventh Prime Minister Rajiv Gandhi who was assassinated
at an election rally near Chennai by a suicide bomber from the LTTE on 21 May 1991.
68. Hungarian writer Laszlo Krasznahorkai won the prestigious Man Booker International Prize
for 2015. His name was announced as the sixth winner of the award at the Victoria and Albert
Museum in London.
69. Chief Minister of West Bengal Mamata Banerjee inaugurated the new headquarter of Coal
India Ltd at New Town Rajarhat in West Bengal
70. Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) announced that ASTROSAT will be launched
in October 2015 by the Polar Satellite Launch Vehicle (PSLV) C-34 from the Satish Dhawan
Space Centre in Sriharikota, Andhra Pradesh.
71. 9th Session of the India-South Africa Joint Ministerial Commission (JMC) was held in
Durban
72. Union finance Ministry constituted Shah Committee to look into the issue of Minimum
Alternate Tax (MAT) on Foreign Institutional Investors (FIIs).

73. State Government of Maharashtra decided to make amend Section 66(1)(c) of the Factories
Act, 1948, so that women employees can work in night shifts. Section 66(1)(c) of the Factories
Act, 1948 restricted women from working at a factory between 7 PM and 6 AM.
74. eBay India (www.ebay.in) has emerged as the largest online perfume mall in India.
75. Infosys Chief Operating Officer UB Pravin Rao is the highest-paid Infoscian during the
financial year 2015, ahead of CEO Vishal Sikka.
76. Eminent economist and academics Mrinal Datta Chaudhuri passed away in Pune,
Mahrashtra.
77. The UK-based payment processing giant Worldpay has partnered with IndusInd Bank to
offer acquiring services in India.
78. HDFC Bank in partnership with Apollo Hospitals launched HDFC Bank Apollo Medical
Benefits Card, a co-branded medical benefits card which allows corporates to disburse medical
allowances to their employees and has insurance cover for accidents.
79. Joe Root and Charlotte Edwards were named as England men’s and women’s cricketers of
the year 2014-15
80. The fourth Anti Submarine Warfare (ASW) Corvette of Project-28 christened Kavaratti was
launched at Garden Reach Shipbuilders and Engineers Ltd (GRSE), Kolkata.
81. The state government of Delhi decided to launch Pay & Play Scheme at the designated
stadiums or sports complexes. The scheme is planned to promote sports for all age groups in the
national capital.
82. GMR Infrastructure Ltd signed a Memorandum of understanding (MoU) with Guizhou
International Investment Corporation (GIIC) for developing Kakinada Special Economic Zone
(KSEZ) in Andhra Pradesh.
83. Infosys announced to become carbon neutral by 2018. For this it earmarked an amount of
400 crore rupees. The company announced to achieve carbon-neutrality on commuting and travel
by its nearly 1.8 lakh employees and in doing so deepens its commitment to sustainability.
84. State Bank of India has partnered with global e-commerce firm Amazon to service its
customers and small businesses.
85. IDBI Bank is set to expand its branch network to 2,000 by the end of the current year from
1,740 now, besides rolling out e-huts to provide services to people in rural areas.

86. Two Indians from Indian Institute of Science, and University of Delhi have been named for
Harvard University's prestigious Radcliffe fellowship. Shivani Agarwal from Indian Institute of
Science and Maharaja Pandit from University of Delhi are among 50 scholars
87. Maria Elena South, driest place on earth discovered in Atacama Desert, Chile.
88. Bhartiya Janta Party (BJP) MP Surendrajeet Singh Ahluwalia has been appointed chairman
of a Joint Committee of Parliament that will look into the provisions of the Land Acquisition
Amendment Bill, 2015.
89. Reliance Jio Infocomm, a telecom subsidiary of Reliance Industries Limited (RIL), signed a
pact with Chinese telecom equipment manufacturer firm Huawei for sourcing various 4th
Generation (4G) devices.
90. Himachal Pradesh will host the Paragliding World Cup from 23 October to 31 October 2015
at Bir Billing in Kangra valley. The world cup will be held under the aegis of Para-gliding World
Cup Association, France.
91. The India Meteorological Department (IMD) under the Union Ministry of Earth Sciences
signed Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with Power System Operation Corporation Ltd
(POSOCO) for optimum use of weather information/forecast in the power sector.
92. Harkeert Singh Saini, an Indian-American policeman in third week of May 2015 won the
prestigious Top Civilian Supervisor of the Year. He was awarded for his efficient services to the
Houston Police department in the state of Texas of United States.
93. Russian Maria Sharapova won the women’s singles of Italian Open for the third time. She
defeated Spain's Carla Suarez Navarro by 4-6 7-5 6-1. The Italian Open title was held in Rome,
Italy.
94. Reliance Industries has issued a $200 million 20-year callable Formosa at par to yield 5 per
cent. The deal is the first Formosa bond from an Indian company.
95. State Bank of India launched an online facility for Overdraft against Fixed Deposit, whereby
customers holding fixed deposits in a single name can avail of up to 90 per cent of the FD
amount as an overdraft to meet emergency and other needs.
96. The Reserve Bank of India is in consultations with the government to double the limit for
capital account transactions for individuals to $250,000 per financial year.
97. Aruna Shanbaug, the nurse of Mumbai’s King Edward Memorial (KEM) Hospital, died on
18 May 2015. She died after battling with coma for past 42-years following a sexual assault by a
hospital ward boy.

98. Federal Bank forayed into credit card segment through the launch of co-branded credit cards
in partnership with SBI Cards, a leading credit card issuer.
99. HDFC Bank, the country’s second largest private lender, launched medical benefits prepaid
card for corporates to disburse medical benefits to their employees.
100. Ace India discus thrower Vikas Gowda won a bronze medal in the second leg of the
prestigious IAAF Diamond League series
101. External Affairs Minister Sushma Swaraj launched the official website of 10th World
Hindi Conference at Jawaharlal Nehru Bhawan in New Delhi.
102. Former Army Brigadier David Granger was sworn in as the eighth President of Guyana.
He was sworn-in as the President after his A Partnership for National Unity (APNU) party-led
coalition won the national elections.
103. Novak Djokovic of Serbia won his fourth Rome Masters Tennis title. In the summit clash,
Djokovic defeated Roger Federer of Switzerland 6-4, 6-3. Maria Sharapova of Russia defeated
Carla Suarez Navarro of Spain 4-6, 7-5, 6-1 to win the women's title.
104. India,announced a credit line of $1 billion to Mongolia to expand its economic capacity and
infrastructure, as they decided to upgrade their relationship from Comprehensive to "Strategic
Partnership".
105. Narendra Modi, the first Indian Prime Minister to visit Mongolia, held wide ranging talks
with his Mongolian counterpart Chimed Saikhanbileg in Ulan Bator following which the two
sides inked 14 agreements covering defence, cyber security, agriculture, renewable energy and
health sector.
106. Australia’s wicketkeeper Brad Haddin has decided to make March's World Cup final his
last one-day international and announced his retirement
107. Ravishankar Prasad Inaugurates First Postal ATM in Bihar. Expanding utilities of Post
offices, the Centre is planning to open 1,000 ATMs (Automated Teller Machines) all over the
country to provide facility of cash withdrawal round the clock, Union Information and
Technology Minister Ravishankar Prasad
108. An Egyptian court has sentenced ousted President Mohammed Morsy to death.
109. Gagan Narang won the bronze medal in the 50m Rifle Prone Event of the ISSF World Cup
at Fort Benning in USA, earning himself a quota place for the 2016 Rio Olympics.
110. Arun Shrivastava assumed charge as Managing Director & CEO of Syndicate Bank.

111. Union Ministry of Finance has appointed M J Joseph as the Controller General of Accounts
(CGA). He will succeed Jawahar Thakur, who was recently appointed as OSD (Accounting
Reforms) in the office of CGA.
112. Uttarakhand, Himachal resolve differences over dam project. Settling the differences over
the long pending 660 MW Kishau dam project, the Uttarakhand and Himachal Pradesh officials
agreed upon sharing of benefits from the project equally.
113. Vice President Mohammed Hamid Ansari conferred the Pt. Haridutt Sharma Award to
senior journalist Anurradha Prasad in New Delhi.
114. World’s first fully warm-blooded fish named Opah or moonfish was discovered recently. It
was discovered by scientists at the US National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration
(NOAA).
115. Bharti Airtel Ltd has received financing commitments of up to $2.5-billion from China
Development Bank and Industrial and Commercial Bank of China.
116. ICICI Bank, India's largest private sector bank has launched its first branch in China. The
Shanghai branch was inaugurated by Prime Minister Narendra Modi.
117. Axis Bank, India’s third largest private sector bank, will roll out 20,000 point of sale (POS)
terminals at merchants for NFC-based card payment acceptance to facilitate tap and pay or
contactless payments.
118. 6th National Conference on Nuclear Energy was held in New Delhi . The Conference was
organised by ASSOCHAM with the theme Nuclear Energy: a Clean Energy option.
119. Palestinians on 15 May 2015 observed the 67th anniversary of the 1948 Palestinian Nakba
Day. As part of it, dozens of Palestinians staged a march in southern Gaza Strip and vowed to
return to their ancestral Homeland.
120. Karan Menon, a 14-year-old Indian-American student, won the 2015 National Geographic
Bee championship. Menon answered all questions correctly related to places like Tashkent,
Telangana and the Oresund Strait.
121. State Bank of India (SBI) launched contact-less credit and debit cards called sbiINTOUCH.
These cards are based upon the latest near-field technology (NFC). With these cards, a customer
can transact by just tapping or waving it against the reader of the point-of-sale machine.
122. Reserve Bank of India (RBI) allowed Tap And Pay without PIN for transactions up to 2000
rupees. For amounts higher than that, the customer must be given the option of contact payment
and would require pin authentication.

123. India and China have signed 24 agreements worth over 10 billion dollars in Beijing this
morning after Prime Minister Narendra Modi held talks with Chinese premier Li Keqiang.
Business is the main focus of PM Modi's three-day visit to China.
124. Three more Indian cities will have Sister Cities in China and provincial ties will be
established between Karnataka and Sichuan. This was one of the 24 agreements signed between
India and China this morning during Prime Minister Narendra Modi's three-day maiden visit to
the country. The Sister Cities will be Chennai-Chongqing, Hyderabad-Qingdao and Aurangabad-
Dunhuang.
125. Prime Minister Narendra Modi announced that India will grant e-visas to Chinese tourists.
126. Indian-Origin Harbhajan Kaur Dheer became the first Asian woman to be elected as mayor
in the United Kingdom (UK).
127. Canara Bank, a public sector bank, has signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU)
with Volvo-Eicher Commercial Vehicles Ltd (VECV) for financing vocational education loans.
128. Indian-American professor Sivanadane Mandjiny won University of North Carolina
Pembroke’s UNC Board of Governors 2015 Award for Excellence in Teaching. Mandjiny is
currently serving as a Chemistry Professor at the University of North Carolina (UNC) in US.
129. Talented Indian youngster Tejaswini Sagar won her maiden world title bagging the gold in
the under-15 category of World School Chess Championship
130. Punjab Agriculture Department launched a pan-state programme to monitor the soil health
of every farm in the state by issuing them personalised Soil Health Cards (SHCs). With this,
Punjab became the first state in India to issue Soil Health Cards to farmers.
131. The Cabinet Committee on Economic Affairs (CCEA) gave its approval for 5 percent
disinvestment in National Thermal Power Corporation Limited (NTPC) and 10 percent
disinvestment in Indian Oil Corporation (IOC).
132. Telangana Government signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with tech giant
Google Inc to build the biggest campus outside the United States (US) in Hyderabad.
133. President Pranab Mukherjee appointed Governors in six states. Their appointments will
take effect from the dates they assume charge. Following are newly appointed Governors
Jharkhand: Former Odisha Minister Droupadi Murmu was appointed as Governor of Jharkhand.
She will replace Dr Syed Ahmed.
Manipur: Dr Syed Ahmed has been transfered to Manipur for remaining period of his term.
Arunachal Pradesh: J P Rajkhowa was appointed as Governor of Arunachal Pradesh. He will
replace Lt. General (Retd.) Nirbhay Sharma.

Mizoram: Lt. General (Retd.) Nirbhay Sharma has been transferred and appointed as Governor
of Mizoram for the remainder of his term.
Tripura: Tathagata Roy will be the Governor of Tripura.
Meghalaya: V. Shanmuganthan has been appointed as Meghalaya Governor.
134. Vatican recognised Palestine as a state in the Holy See-Palestine Joint Statement released
The Joint Statement titled Bilateral Commission of the Holy See and the State of Palestine was
released after the Plenary Session held in Vatican on a Comprehensive Agreement following on
the Basic Agreement signed on 15 February 2000.
135. The Union Cabinet chaired by the Prime Minister Narendra Modi gave its nod for
implementation of Namami Gange programme (NGP). The programme will be operational under
the National Ganga River Basin Authority (NGRBA).
136. Celebrated Bengali writer Suchitra Bhattacharya died at her south Kolkata residence.
137. Deepak Iyer was appointed as Managing Director (MD) and Chief Executive Officer (CEO)
of Bharti AXA General Insurance.
138. Indian-origin Daniel Mookhey became the first politician in Australia to be sworn in on the
Gita when he took oath in New South Wales Parliament.
139. Indian-born Nikesh Arora was appointed as the President of Japan’s multinational
telecommunications and internet company SoftBank Corp.
140. Hyderabad will host the four-day Indo-Global Pharma Expo and Summit 2015 that is
scheduled to be held on 24 July 2015.
141. The Reserve Bank of India (RBI) advised all public sector banks (PSBs) to appoint internal
Ombudsman. This internal Ombudsman will be designated as Chief Customer Service Officer
(CCSO) and it should not have worked in the bank in which it has been appointed as CCSO.
142. Kerala-based Federal Bank will offer a new Gold Loan Product, Akshaya Gold, with the
added feature of free insurance cover of up to Rs. 1 lakh. “Under the scheme, customers will get
an insurance cover up to Rs. 1 lakh absolutely free.
143. Indian author Neel Mukherjee won the 2014 Encore Award for his novel The Lives of
Others.
144. Facebook Inc signed up with nine publishers to launch Instant Articles. Instant Articles will
publish articles directly to the social network's mobile news feeds. The launch partners for
Instant Articles are NBC, The Atlantic, The Guardian, BBC News, Spiegel and Bild.

145. Uttar Pradesh (UP) Chief Minister Akhilesh Yadav launched the water ATM facility
Samajwadi Shudha Payjal Yojna for UP Roadways bus stations. This facility was installed at
Charbagh of Lucknow and at other 100 bus stations of the state.
146. Pablo Picasso's painting Les Femme d’Alger (Version O) was sold for 179.3 million US
dollars during an auction at Christie's in New York. With this sale, this painting became the most
expensive painting to be sold at an auction. Les Femme d’Alger, a 1955 painting known in
English as The Women of Algiers had a pre-auction estimate of 140 million US dollars.
147. India Posts launched a dedicated E-Commerce Centre in New Delhi to cater the ecommerce
business enterprises. It was launched by Union Communication and IT Minister Ravi
Shankar Prasad at Safdarjang, New Delhi
148. Indian-origin Priti Patel was appointed as Minister of State for Employment in British
Government.
149. Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Akhilesh Yadav today said launch of affordable 'Lohia gramin
bus seva', with 25 per cent lower fares, has received accolade from the people and it needs to be
expanded further keeping in view the size of the state and the population.
150. Renowned Pop artist Chris Burden passed away following melanoma disease at his home
and studio in Topanga Canyon, California.
151. National Human Rights Commission Member Justice Cyriac Joseph was authorised to act
as the Chairperson of the Commission until the appointment of a new Chairperson in place of
Justice K.G. Balakrishnan who has completed his tenure.
152. K Satish Reddy, the Chairman of Dr Reddy’s Laboratories Ltd., was appointed as the
Chairman of the National Safety Council (NSC).
153. Canara Bank has recently launched a mega CASA (current account, savings account)
campaign in Bengaluru with the CanBank men and women with their logo colour caps flooding
the nook and corners of the city to sell their products.
154. The Maharashtra Industrial Development Corporation (MIDC) signed a memorandum of
understanding (MoU) with SIDBI Venture Capital Ltd to provide easy finance to micro, small
and medium enterprises (MSMEs) for their growth.
155. Indian Army signed Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with the Bank of India (BOI)
on the Defence Salary Package.The first MoU between BOI and the Indian Army was signed in
2011 and was valid for a period of three years.
156. Veteran Hollywood actress Elizabeth Wilson passed away following age-related illness at
New Haven.

157. Eminent banker K V Kamath was appointed as head of the $50-billion New Development
Bank being set up by the five emerging economies of the BRICS grouping.
158. Outgoing chairman of Parliament’s Public Accounts Committee, senior Congress leader K
V Thomas, has been renominated to the post for a second term.“K V Thomas has been
renominated as PAC chairman till April, 2016,
159. Every year, `National Technology Day’ is observed across India on May 11. This day
glorifies the importance of science in day-to-day life and motivates students to adopt science as a
career option.
160. President Pranab Mukherjee, currently on his four-day official visit to Russia, has
inaugurated a festival of Indian Culture ‘Namaste Russia’ in Moscow.
161. Prime Minister Narendra Modi inaugurated the upgraded IISCO Steel Plant (ISP) in
Burnpur, West Bengal. The ISP houses the largest blast furnace of India.
162. Ace Indian discus thrower Vikas Gowda won Gold at Jamaican International Invitation
meet. The meet was held in Kingston, Jamaica. He came up with an effort of 65.14m to win his
event.
163. Andy Murray of Britain won the Madrid Open men’s singles title in the final matches held
in Madrid, Spain. Petra Kvitova of Czech Republic won the Madrid Open women’s singles title
in the final matches held in Madrid, Spain. She defeated Svetlana Kuznetsova of Russia 6-1, 6-2
to secure the title for the second time.
Rohan Bopanna and Florin Mergea, the Indo-Romanian pair, won the men’s doubles title of the
Madrid Tennis Open.
164. Tata Communications announced a video network partnership with China Telecom Global
to enable and manage media content for customers in China and globally.
165. Veteran actor and film producer Shashi Kapoor has been conferred with prestigious Dada
Saheb Phalke Award 2014.
166. India successfully test-fired an advanced version of the BrahMos land-attack cruise missile
from the Car Nicobar Islands, the second such exercise
167. State-run SIDBI and the Maharashtra Government have set up a Rs. 200-crore venture
capital fund with a view to providing easy financing options to micro, small and medium
entrepreneurs (MSMEs), which traditionally face hurdles in formal sources of funding.
168. Mortgage lender HDFC has emerged the only Indian company among the world’s 10
biggest consumer financial services firms, after giants like American Express, Visa and
Mastercard.

169. The World Health Organization (WHO) has declared Liberia free of the Ebola virus,
confirming that the country has had no new cases in 42 days.
170. Prime Minister Narendra Modi launched three ambitious social security schemes, relating
to the insurance and pension sector and intended at widening the process of financial inclusion.
"Pradhan Mantri Suraksha Bima Yojana" (accident insurance), "Pradhan Mantri Jeevan Jyoti
Yojana" (life insurance) and "Atal Pension Yojana" at a programme in Nazrul Manch at West
Bengal.
171. Senior IPS officer Navneet Rajan Wasan was appointed as (DG) of Bureau of Police
Research and Development (BPR&D).
172. The first centre for Gandhian studies in China will be inaugurated at Shanghai’s Fudan
University by Prime Minister Narendra Modi who will also announce the setting up of a Yoga
College in the country during his three-day visit.
173. The Centre has decided to print 150 million one rupee notes per annum, Parliament was
informed
174. Book titled Unbelievable – Delhi to Islamabad authored by senior Advocate Prof. Bhim
Singh was released by Vice President M Hamid Ansari in New Delhi.
175. Prime Minister Narendra Modi released a commemorative coin to mark the birth centenary
of Swami Chinmayananda in New Delhi.
176. Mhairi Black became the youngest lawmaker of Britain at the age of 20. The freshly
elected lawmaker is from Scotland.
177. North Korea successfully test-fired a newly developed Submarine-Launched Ballistic
Missile (SLBM). The nation described the missile as a world level strategic weapon.
178. David Cameron’s Conservative Party won the UK General election 2015 by securing 331
seats in a Parliament of 650.
179. Achal Kumar Jyoti, the former Chief Secretary of Gujarat, was appointed as the Election
Commissioner of India.
180. State Bank of India launched State Bank RuPay Platinum debit card in association with
National Payment Corporation of India (NPCI). Initially, the card will be issued free to
customers maintaining a quarterly balance of 50000 rupees. The RuPay card is accepted at all
payment channels like ATMs, PoS and eCommerce.
The State Bank RuPay Platinum Debit Card, targets the affluent segment by offering a range of
value added benefits including:
• 5 percent cashback on utility bill payments
• Up to 1 percent fuel surcharge waiver
• Complimentary airport lounge access
• Complimentary concierge services
• Complimentary welcome discount vouchers
• Personal accidental death and permanent total disability insurance cover of 2 lakh rupees
181. Mid-sized private lender YES Bank has tied up with Payworld to distribute co-branded
open loop prepaid cards to customers.
182. Singapore PM Lee Hsien Loong opened first museum Indian Heritage Centre in Little
India.The museum was dedicated to Indian history. Singapore is celebrating 50 years of its
independence in 2015 as well as 50 years of diplomatic relations with India.
183. Online fashion retailer Myntra.com acquired Bengaluru-based startup firm Native5
Software Solutions Pvt Ltd for an undisclosed sum
184. Nepal Rastra Bank announced to provide interest-free loans for rebuilding houses. The
bank will provide interest-free loans of up to 25 lakh nepali rupees in the Kathmandu Valley and
15 lakh nepali rupees for those outside the capital for house reconstruction.Nepal Rastra Bank is
the regulatory authority of the Nepalese economy.
185. The Union Government and Asian Development Bank (ADB) signed a 31 million US
dollars loan agreement to boost water availability in selected river basins in Karnataka and
ensure improved water efficiency in irrigation
186. Eminent historian and social scientist Amalendu Guha passed away following old age
ailments at Ulubari, Guwahati.
187. The Lok Sabha passed a Bill that provides for trying juveniles aged between 16 and 18
years for heinous crimes under laws for adults, with the government insisting that it had tried to
strike a “fine balance” to ensure that no injustice was done to innocent children.
188. India and Iran signed an inter-Governmental Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) for
the development of the strategically important Chabahar Port in Iran.bThe MoU was signed in
Tehran by Minister for Shipping and Road Transport and Highways Nitin Gadkari and Iranian
Minister for Transport and Urban Development Abbas Ahmad Akhoundi.
189. The Union Cabinet gave its approval for the revised Double Taxation Avoidance
Agreement (DTAA) with South Korea.
190. Goa Chief Minister Laxmikant Parsekar launched the state level ‘Beti Bachao Beti Padhao
Scheme’ in Panaji.
191. The Indian Army team emerged as champions in the 19th Federation Cup National Senior
Athletic Championships.

192. Lok Sabha passed the Goods and Services Tax (GST) Bill, 2014. The bill also called
Constitution (122nd Amendment) Bill seeks to introduce GST regime in India.
193. Kerala Gramin Bank (KGB), the largest regional rural bank in the country, has tied up with
Xpress Money for remittance services across 500-plus branches in Kerala.
194. Prime Minister Narendra Modi joined Chinese social media platform Weibo. Weibo is the
main microblogging service of China. Weibo is often referred to as Twitter of China.
195. The first regiment of the indigenously developed Surface-to-Air missile Akash Weapon
System (AWS) was inducted into the Indian Army in New Delhi.
196. The Union Cabinet chaired by Prime Minister Narendra Modi approved the 119th
Constitutional Amendment Bill on Land Boundary Agreement (LBA) between India and
Bangladesh.
197. France signed a 7.02 billion US dollars agreement with Qatar to supply 24 Dassault
Aviation-built Rafale fighter jets. This is the third contract to sell Rafale Fighter jets after
contracts with Egypt and India.
198. Rajasthan Government 5 signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with National
Health Mission (NHM), UNICEF and GAIN (Global Alliance for Improved Nutrition) in Jaipur
to tackle the severe problem of malnourishment of the state.
199. World Asthma Day 2015 was observed globally on 5 May 2015. Theme of the year is You
Can Control Your Asthma and sub-theme is It’s Time to Control Asthma.
200. Syrian journalist Mazen Darwish honoured with UNESCO-Guillermo Cano World Press
Freedom Prize 2015
201. Railway Sports Promotion Board (RSPB) won the 5th Hockey India Senior Women
National Championship 2015.
202. The World Press Freedom day was observed globally on 3 May 2015. Every year, over 100
national celebrations take place to commemorate this day.
203. Facebook Inc is launching an open platform for online content and application developers to
join its Internet.org service, in a move the social media giant said would boost efforts to get
people online in low-income and rural areas in emerging markets.
204. Tennis player Rafael Nadal received Golden Medal for Merit in Work of Spain
205. UCO Bank and Indian Bank have agreed to extend educational loans covering the entire
course fee to the students intending to pursue PGDM programmes offered by the Institute of
Public Enterprise.

206. Floyd Mayweather defeated Manny Pacquiao by unanimous decision on Saturday in their
long-awaited welterweight world title showdown.
207. The Madhya Pradesh Cabinet in the last week of April 2015 gave its approval to build 750
megawatt (MW) solar photovoltaic (SPV) plant at Gurh tehsil in Rewa district.
208. Senior IPS officer Surender Singh took over as the new Director General (DG) of Central
Industrial Security Force (CISF).
209. Andhra Pradesh and Telangana introduced 5 lakh rupees Accident Insurance Scheme for
transport drivers. It will also cover education of two children of the beneficiary.
210. National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) ended the operations of
MESSENGER Mission.
211. MESSENGER stands for MErcury Surface, Space ENvironment, GEochemistry and
Ranging and it was launched on 3 August 2004 to study Mercury’s atmosphere
212. Union Road Transport and Highways minister Nitin Gadkari dedicated Shillong Bypass
Highway Project and four lane Jorabat-Barapani Section of NH-40 to the nation in Shillong,
Meghalaya.
213. The capital’s Indira Gandhi International Airport (IGIA) has been adjudged the world’s
best airport for the year 2014, under the category of handling 25 to 40 million passengers per
annum, .
214. A Book titled China – Confucius in the Shadows was released by the Vice President M.
Hamid Ansari . Confucius was considered as the most efficient author in Chinese history.
215. Online transaction frauds and hacking risks may get minimised if the US based Nuspay
International’s ‘virtual account’ payment solution takes wings in India.
216. Senior IAS officer Kapil Dev Tripathi today took over as the new Oil Secretary
217. India ranks at 13th position in the world in terms of generation electricity from nuclear
source.
218. Microsoft, American multinational technology companyannounced Edge as its next Web
Browser’s name at the Build Developer Conference held at San Francisco in California, USA.
219. Former Gujarat assembly speaker Barjorji Pardiwala passed away due to age-related illness
at a private hospital in Ahmedabad.
220. Union Government has made Permanent Account Number (PAN) mandatory for private
firms seeking central excise registration.

221. World’s largest flag was unfurled at an event in Ong Jmel in the southern desert area of
Tunisia.
222. Microsoft has launched Edu-Cloud, a cloud computing based offering to provide digital
learning and teaching in schools and higher educational institutions.
223. Michael Blake, the Oscar-winning writer of ‘Dances With Wolves’ novel passed away in
Tucson, Arizona, after a long battle with cancer.
224. Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif inaugurated Pakistan's first-ever solar energy project built
with Chinese assistance, a step forward to provide relief to people in the country plagued by
perpetual power shortages.
225. Union Finance Minister Arun Jaitley inaugurated the New Bank Note Paper Line unit of
6000 metric ton capacity at Security Paper Mill in Hoshangabad in Madhya Pradesh. He also
flagged off the first consignment of one thousand rupee bank notes made indigenously from this
paper mill to the Currency Note Press Nasik
226. Maharashtra Government has launched Swachhata Saptapadi scheme on the lines of Union
Government’s flagship Swachh Bharat Abhiyan. The scheme was launched by Chief Minister
Devendra Fadnavis along with actor Aamir Khan who is brand ambassador of Swachh Bharat
Abhiyan in Mumbai.
227. E-Commerce major Snapdeal will allow its users across 200 cities to pay through their
credit and debit cards when they opt for pay-on-delivery option. “The solution has been
developed in partnership with GoJavas. Now customers can select the pay by card on delivery
option, just like they would for COD.
228. Private sector lender HDFC Bank is the only Indian entity to find a place among the top 100
most valuable brands globally, along with Apple, Google, Microsoft, IBM and Facebook.HDFC
Bank is ranked at 74th position in the BrandZ list compiled by Millward Brown, a global
research agency, in association with WPP. As per the report, the bank is the India’s most
valuable brand with a value of $ 14 billion.
Apple tops the chart with a brand value of $ 246.9 billion, followed by Google with $ 173.6
billion and Microsoft with $ 115.5 billion.