1. Former Research and Analysis Wing chief AS Dulat is the author of Kashmir: The Vajpayee Years.
2. The Asian Infrastructure Investment Bank (AIIB) is an international financial institution proposed by the government of China. China will be the largest shareholder (at 30.34 per cent), followed by India (8.52 per cent) and Russia (6.66 per cent).
3. Kalyan Jewellers' chairman and managing director T S Kalayanaraman, is the wealthiest jeweller in India with a personal fortune of USD 1.3 billion, as per the Wealth-X report. Kalayanaraman opened his first jewellery shop in Thrissur City in 1993 with only USD 100,000 capital, and his business has now expanded to 32 showrooms across South India. Nirav Modi was ranked second on the list with an estimated net worth of USD 1.1 billion. The third on the list is M P Ahammed, with a personal fortune of USD 1 billion. Bima Jewellers' B Govindan with a personal wealth of USD 620 million, Kiran Gems' Vallabhbhai S Patel (USD 590 million), Laxmi Diamond's Vasant Gajera (USD 580 million), Dharmanandan Diamonds' Laljibhai Patel (USD 480 million), Kiran Gems' Babubhai Lakhani (USD 470 million), Kiran Gems' Mavji Bhai Patel (USD 410 million) and Rajesh Exports' Rajesh Mehta (USD 310 million) are in the top ten.
4. Matti Makkonen was a Finnish engineer in the field of mobile communications. He was known as the father of SMS after developing the idea of sending messages via mobile networks.
5. Sir Fazle Hasan Abed, the founding chairman of Brac, a leading rural development and anti-poverty organisation, based in Bangladesh, has won the 2015 World Food Prize.
6. Haryana government has launched Mhara Gaon-Jagmag Gaon, a new electricity scheme.
7. Uttar Pradesh has highest number of households with a mobile phone (86.63 per cent). In other hand Odisha (33.56 per cent) has the least number of households with a mobile phone as per the Socio Economic and Caste Census 2011.
8. The world's first exchange for physically-settled diamonds is slated to begin trading in September in Singapore.
9. The country's first Metrino project is coming up in New Delhi.
10. Google India and Tata Trust has launched a special programme called Internet Saathi to bring more women online.
11. The Burkhan Khaldun is a mountain of the Khentii Mountains in the Khentii Province of Mongolia. It is inscribed as the UNESCO World Heritage Site at the 39th session of the World Heritage Committee, on July 4, 2015
12. Carli Lloyd became the first woman to score a hat-trick in FIFA women's world cup. During the 2015 FIFA Women's World Cup final, Lloyd scored a hat trick to lead the U.S. To a 5–2 win over Japan and the World Cup title. Lloyd received the Golden Ball Trophy as best player of the tournament and earned the Silver Boot for her six goals and one assist during the tournament.
13. Union home ministry has declared entire Nagaland state as a 'disturbed area' for one year period with an immediate effect from June 30, 2015.
14. According to Socio Economic and Caste Census (SECC) Madhya Pradesh has largest number of manual scavangers in the country. The top five states with manual scavengers, are Madhya Pradesh (23,093), Uttar Pradesh (17,619), Tripura (17,332) and Karnataka (15,375) and Punjab.
15. The Central banks of BRICS countries have signed an operating agreement on the $100 billion currency reserve pool to protect BRICS member states from currency volatility shocks. China will make the biggest contribution to the pool: $41 billion. Russia, Brazil and India will donate $18 billion each, while South Africa's investment will be $5 billion. The goal of the pool is to give BRICS member states opportunity to provide each other financial assistance in case of problems with their balance of payments.
16. Gennady Padalka, a Russian cosmonaut on board the International Space Station has broken the record for total time in space by spending more than two years in orbit during his career. He broke his countryman Sergei Krikalev's record of 803 days, nine hours and 41 minutes.
17. India will chair the BRICS Summit from February 2016 to December 2016.(It will be held in Goa)
18. India's rural employment guarantee programme, the Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Scheme (MGNREGA), has been ranked as the world's largest public works one, a World Bank report said. MGNREGA is providing social security net to almost 15 per cent of the country's population.
19. The SAARC Festival of Literature is organised annually by the Foundation of SAARC Writers and Literature (FOSWAL), an organisation that works in areas of literature and culture to build up relations among the countries. Renowned scholars, intellectuals, laureates, media persons, film makers and social activists from all the SAARC countries and from Myanmar will be attending the festival. Lucknow, Uttar Pradesh is the site for the 2016 SAARC Literature Festival.
20. Khanjar 2015 is a joint special exercise between India and Kyrgyzstan. The second edition of exercise was held in Kyrgyzstan in March. India hosted the first edition in 2011. Recently, both the countries decided to hold joint exercises on an annual basis.
21. The Shanghai Cooperation Organisaiton (SCO) granted full membership status to Pakistan and India during its Ufa summit.
22. Jammu and Kashmir India's longest road tunnel is ready to open in Udhampur, Jammu and Kashmir. The tunnel will cut the distance between Jammu and Srinagar by 30 kilometers. The tunnel is 9.2- kilometer-long and is part of the ambitious 286 km-long four-laning of the Jammu-Srinagar national highway. The road is likely to be opened to traffic in July 2016.
23. The Meitei people live in Manipur.
24. The Potala Palace is in Lhasa, Tibet. It was the primary residence of the Dalai Lama until 1959. Today the Potala Palace is a state museum, a popular tourist attraction, and a UNESCO World Heritage Site. It was also recently named one of the "New Seven Wonders of the World" by the television show Good Morning America and the newspaper USA Today.
25. Tamil Nadu has retained the top position among all states in getting domestic tourists during 2014 followed by Uttar Pradesh, Karnataka and Maharashtra. During 2014, the number of domestic tourist visits to the states was 1,282 million, an increase from 1,145 million in 2013 and 1,045 million in 2012. This signified a growth of 11.93 per cent over 2013 as compared to 9.59 per cent in 2013 over 2012. In terms of numbers, the top 10 performing states for domestic tourists in 2014 were Tamil Nadu (327.6 million), Uttar Pradesh (182.8 m), Karnataka (118.3m), Maharashtra (94.1m), Andhra Pradesh (93.3m), Telengana (72.4m), Madhya Pradesh (63.6m), West Bengal (49 m) Jharkhand (33.4 m) and Rajasthan (33.1 m).
26. GAGAN or GPS based Geo Augmented Navigation System is an indigenous navigational guide system developed by Isro on the lines of GPS system of the US. It was jointly developed by the Isro and Airports Authority of India (AAI) with a view to assist aircraft in accurate landing.
27. Haryana became the first state in the country to initiate state-wide birth defect surveillance.
28. Justice Loda panel appointed by Supreme Court has suspended two top Indian Premier League teams for two years over a corruption scandal.Chennai Super Kings and Rajasthan Royals have been found guilty in an illegal betting and match-fixing probe. The panel also suspended Royals co-owner Raj Kundra and Gurunath Meiyappan of Super Kings from all cricket-related activities for life.
29. Microsoft has been developing White-fi technology. White-fi is a term being used to describe the use of a Wi-Fi technology within the TV unused spectrum, or TV white space.
30. Varanasi has been chosen as a part of the 'Cities of Music' under UNESCO's cultural division, the Creative Cities Network. It has been chosen in the music category under UNESCO's "field of excellence" plan.
31. years The Godavari Maha Pushkaralu, which started on July 14, occurs once in 144 years. The next such event will take place in 2159. Maha Pushkaralu is also known as Maha Kumbh of the South.
32. Brazil is the largest Portuguese speaking country in the world. Brazil is followed by Mozambique.
33. Pipavav Shipyard was established in 1997 at west coast of Saurashtra, Gujarat and one of the largest and leading shipbuilding company in India that is spread over 500 acres.
34. India's largest E-commerce company is mJunction which is run by its CEO & MD Viresh Oberoi. It is also largest online steel marketplace in the world.
35. The key mandates of the Rashtriya Gokul Mission include: 1. Enhance milk production and productivity of indigenous bovines.
36. Professor Stephen Hawking launched a $100-million project (also known as Breakthrough Listen) to search for Aliens at the Royal Society in London. The project is funded by Silicon Valley technology investor and physicist Yuri Milner.
37. India already has one nuclear fuel complex at Hyderabad. Another nuclear fuel complex is coming up in Kota in Rajasthan.
38. The South-Korean car maker, Hyundai launched its Sports Utility Vehicle (SUV) Creta in India in both diesel and petrol variants.
39. Mr. Bhupender Yadav is the chairman of the Rajya Sabha committee on the constitutional amendment Bill regarding National Goods and Services Tax (GST).
40. Conakry, the capital of the Republic of Guinea, has been named as the World Book Capital for 2017 by United Nations Organization for Education, Science and Culture (UNESCO) in Paris. Conakry is the 17th city to be designated as World Book Capital. At present, Incheon is the World Book Capital for 2015 and Wroclaw for 2016.
41. As of July 2015, No President of India has visited Israel. President Pranab Mukherjee may be the first Indian President to visit Israel in October 2015.
42. There are only two Arab countries viz. Jordan and Egypt, which maintain full diplomatic relations with Israel.
43. Jin Liqun, Former finance Minister of China has been appointed as President of $100 billion Asian Infrastructure Investment Bank (AIIB).Presently, Jin is Secretary General of AIIB's interim secretariat. Prior to this he was chairman of China International Capital Corporation (CICC), one of the mainland's largest investment banks.
44. Kazakhstan, a member of the Russia-led economic blocks became 162th member of World Trade Organization (WTO). Kazakhstan's entry has ended its long wait of 20 years to become a member of WTO as its accession talks were initiated in 1996.
45. The Finance Ministry is moving towards launching its flagship project called "Project Insight" to widen the tax base by nabbing tax evaders using modern technology. It is based on data analytics and data mining. Recently, tenders to by software was floated.
46. India is the world's biggest consumer of edible oils. Edible oil is India's third-biggest import item after crude oil and gold. India imports most of its edible oil from Indonesia and Malaysia.
47. India's first Integrated Underwater Harbour Defence and Surveillance System (IUHDSS) has been commissioned in Kochi, Kerala.
48. Pakistan became the first Asian country to get European Organisation for Nuclear Research (CERN) membership.
49. After the approval by the International Olympic Committee (IOC), the African country, South Sudan became the 206th member of the Olympic family. Now, South Sudan will compete at 2016 Rio de Janeiro summer Olympics under its own flag.
50. The International Olympic Committee (IOC) has officially recognized ' Frisbee' as an Olympic sport.
51. India's leading car manufacturer, Maruti Suzuki launched its first premium crossover "S-Cross" in India.
52. Bharti Airtel became the first telecom operator in India to commercially launch its 4G high-speed data services in 296 towns across India.
53. India's oldest organized retailer, Shoppers Stop has tied up with Snapdeal (online shopping portal) to retail their products online. This partnership will allow consumers to buy Shoppers Stop merchandise on Snapdeal and collect it from the brick-and-mortar stores.
54. India has decided to boycott 61st Commonwealth Parliamentary Conference (CPU) to be held in Islamabad next month in protest against Pakistan not inviting the Speaker of Jammu and Kashmir Assembly.
55. The Larsen and Toubro (L&T) has become the first Indian private firm to get license from Defence Research and Development Organisation (DRDO) to manufacture Lakshya, a pilotless target aircraft.
56. As per section 302 of the Indian Penal Code (IPC), the death penalty is given by courts. On this issue, the Tripura Legislative Assembly passed resolution on abolishing death penalty and they send a proposal to the Government of India (GoI) to bring necessary amendments in this Act and provide life imprisonment up to death in case of heinous crimes.
57. Kochi has become the first city in India to be a member of Beijing-headquartered World Tourism Cities Federation (WTCF) Council.
58. As per section 306 (abetment of suicide) of the Indian Penal Code, the Rajasthan high court banned "Santhara" or a religious fast to death practised by followers of Jainism, declaring it unconstitutional. The judgement came after the Public Interest Litigation (PIL) was filed by Nikhil Soni in 2006 against the practice of Santhara. According to the Press Trust of India, on average 240 Jains practice santhara (also known Sallekhana Vruta) until death each year in India.
59. As per recently released data by US Department of Agriculture (DoA), India is the world's largest exporter of beef in FY-2015. In FY-2015, India exported 2.4 million tonnes of veal and beef, while Brazil exported 2 million tonnes and Australia exported 1.5 million tonnes.
60. Google will become a wholly-owned subsidiary of Alphabet Inc, it is announced by Google co-founder, Mr. Larry Page. In other words, Alphabet Inc. will replace Google Inc. as the publicly-traded entity and all shares of Google will automatically convert into the same number of shares of Alphabet, with all of the same rights. After create a new organizational structure, "Alphabet Inc.", Mr. Larry Page will become the CEO of Alphabet , Mr.Sergey Brin will be President and Mr.Sundar Pichai will take over the CEO role at Google.
61. Former Indian Cricketer Saurav Ganguly appointed as the social ambassador of Beverage Maker Coca Cola India and signed a 3-year contract uptil 2017.
62. The Netravali wildlife sanctuary is located in South Eastern Goa.Recently, here the new frog species "Netravali Leaping Frog (Indirana salelkari)" has been discovered.
63. On 69th Independence Day, Prime Minister Mr. Narendra Modi announced a new campaign "Start-up India, Stand up India" to encourage entrepreneurship among the youth of India. The campaign will also promote bank financing for start-ups and offer incentives to boost entrepreneurship and job creation.
64. Mr. Om Prakash Munjal was the founder and the current chairman of Hero Cycles, who died in Ludhiana recently.
65. Mr. Om Prakash Rawat, a former Madhya Pradesh cadre IAS officer, has been appointed as the new Election Commissioner of India. Mr. Nasim Zaidi is the current Chief Election Commissioner and Election Commissioner other than Mr. Om Prakash Rawa is Mr. Achal Kumar Jyoti.
66. Taj Mahal, the symbol of true love and architectural brilliance, has become the first historical monument in the world to have its own Twitter account. The Twitter Account was lauched by Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Mr. Akhilesh Yadav.
67. Telangana
To empower gram panchayats, the Telangana Chief Minister Mr. K. Chandrasekhar Rao launched a flagship programme "Grama Jyothi" at Gangadevipally, a village in Warangal district. The purpose of the scheme is to strengthen villages in areas viz. water and sanitation, health and nutrition, education, social security and poverty eradication, natural resources management, agriculture and infrastructure. It will ensure inclusive and holistic development of villages through people's participation in planning and collective decision-making. Each village will be allocated Rs.2 crore to Rs.6 crore depending on their population.The country's largest lender, the State bank of India (SBI) lanunched a mobile wallet app "SBI Buddy" in collaboration with Accenture and MasterCard.
68. The ICICI Bank launched the 'Smart Vault', a fully automated state-of-the-art locker available 24×7, including weekends and post banking hours.
69. The Cochin International Airport became the world's first fully solar-powered airport.
70. The Reserve Bank of India (RBI) granted in-principle approval to 11 entities viz. Reliance Industries, Aditya Birla Nuvo, Vodafone, Airtel, Department of Posts (DoP), Cholamandalam Distribution Services, Tech Mahindra, National Securities Depository Limited (NSDL), FinoPayTech, Sun Pharma's Dilip Shantilal Shanghvi and PayTM' to set up Payments Banks. The key features of Payments banks are as follows: a) the bank licence will allow companies to collect deposits (initially up to Rs. 1 lakh per individual). b) offer Internet banking, facilitate money transfers and sell insurance and mutual funds. c) can issue ATM/debit cards, but not credit cards. d) can also distribute non-risk sharing simple financial products viz. mutual funds and insurance products. e) will not be allowed to undertake lending services and Non Resident Indians (NRIs) will not be allowed to open accounts.
71. The Bangladesh Novelist Zia Haider Rahman won the UK's oldest literary award, James Tait Black Award 2015, for his debut novel "In the Light of What We Know". The novel is based on a disillusioned banker who is reunited with an old friend before embarking on an epic journey.
72. Per the recently released Red List of International Union For Conservation of Nature (IUCN), Asiatic Wild Ass has been classified as an endangered animal. The IUCN has moved the Asiatic wild ass from the 'vulnerable' to 'endangered' category and indicates the need for heightened protection measures. The Asiatic Wild Ass is locally known as ghudkhar and found only in the Little Rann of Kutch in Gujarat. ( Scientific name of Asiatic Wild Ass : Equus hemionus).
73. The veteran actor-director Mr. Amol Palekar has been appointed as the chairman of India's Oscar jury by Mumbai based Film Federation of Indiaof India (FFI). Mr. Palekar will head the 17-member jury panel, which will select the country's official entry in the Best Foreign Language Film at the Oscar awards 2016.
74. The Justice AP Shah Committee has recommended that the Foreign Institutional Investors (FIIs) must be granted relief on Minimum Alternate Tax (MAT) for the period before April 1, 2015. As per the Finance Act, 2015 proposed in the union budget, the 20 % MAT on capital gains made by FIIs is waived off from the financial year 2015-16. Though, the issue of imposing MAT for past years till 2014-15 has become controversial. If this recommendation is accepted, it would mean a significant relief for FIIs facing several years of levies on capital gains made by them.
75. The Temple of Baalshamin was an ancient temple in the city of Palmyra, Syria, dedicated to the Canaanite deity Baalshamin. On August 2015, the temple was demolished by the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant (ISIL) after the capture of Palmyra during the Syrian Civil War.
76. The Union Telecom Minister Mr. Ravi Shankar Prasad released a Rs.5 postal stamp in honour of Ashoka, the Great, the great Indian emperor of Mauryan dynasty.
77. The 6th Joint Military Training Exercise "EXERCISE EKUVERIN – VI" will be conducted between the Indian Army and the Maldives National Defence Forces at Pangode Military Station, Trivandrum, Kerala from August 31 to September 13, 2015.
78. The World Health Oraganistion (WHO) has officially declared India as Maternal and Neonatal Tetanus free country, i.e. mothers and newborns are free from tetanus at the time of birth. Before that, India was declared polio free country in 2014.
79. Mr. Raghav Chandra has been appointed as the Chairman of National Highways Authority of India (NHAI). Mr. Chandra is a 1982 batch IAS officer from Madhya Pradesh cadre.
80. The first Sunhak Peace Prize 2015 was awarded to President of Kiribati Islands Mr. Anote Tong and noted Indian agricultural scientist Dr. Modadugu Vijay Gupta with a certificate, a medal and shared $ 1 million prize money. This award is given to eminent individuals from around the world for their contribution to peace and development of the world.
81. Tennis ace Ms. Sania Mirza has been conferred with Rajiv Gandhi Khel Ratna award 2015. She became the second tennis player to receive the country's highest sporting honour after Leander Paes.
82. The Union Petroleum and Natural Gas Minister, Mr. Dharmendra Pradhan has launched SAHAJ scheme for online release of new LPG connections for the consumers as parts of its consumer friendly initiative in New Delhi.
83. The 1978-batch Rajasthan cadre IAS officer, Mr. Rajiv Mehrishi has been appointed as Union ome Secretary in the Ministry of Home Affairs for a period of two years. He succeeded Mr. L C Goyal. Previously, Mr. Mehrishi was serving as Secretary in the Department of Economic Affairs in the Ministry of Finance.
84. Himadri Station, established in 2008, is India's first Arctic research station. It is located at Spitsbergen, Svalbard, Norway. It's research goals include analysis of the surface water, and atmospheric research near Arctic region, apart from aerosol radiation, space weather, microbial communities, glaciers, sedimentology, and carbon recycling.
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