GK points for IBPS PO part - I

Committes in News in 2014

1. 1. H Devaraj Committee-reported that most of the deemed universities are not fit for being a university.
2. H R Khan panel- to assess unclaimed deposits in the PPF accounts.
3. Bombay High Court set up a committee to conduct forensic audit of NSEL

4. Sivaramakrishnan committee constituted by the Union Government to suggest the place to build the capital city of Andhra Pradesh

5. Prime Minister Narendra Modi on 27 August 2014 set up a Ramanujam committee to identify obsolete laws.
6.RBI governor Bimal Jalan- as the head of the Expenditure Management Commission
7.T he Union Ministry of Human Resource Development (HRD) on 3 August 2014 set up a four member Hari Gauttam committee to review the present status of UGC

8.Justice SB Sinha commission to probe the 2006 Meerut Fire tragedy. It will summit its report by 31 January 2015.
9. Union government on 24 July 2014 decided to appoint Suresh Prabhu Committee to review the gas pricing formula.
10. Union Ministry of Corporate Affairs on 19 July 2014 constituted R S Sharma Expert Committee on Cost Records and Cost Audits.
11. Independent High Level Committee headed by KK Mehrotra constituted by Government to inquire into gas leakage incident in Bhilai Steel Plant.
12. SC reconstituted a Special Investigation Team (SIT) to monitor probe into the black money case under the chairmanship of retired judge MB Shah.
13. AK Singh constituted a high level committee to review safety standards of tourist vessels operational at different tourist spots on Andaman Island.
14. Expert Committee constituted by Information and Broadcasting Ministry to review the institutional framework of Prasar Bharti has submitted its report.
15. Separate Bodoland state committee-former Union Home Secretary G K Pillai
16. A panel of Reserve Bank of India led by Nachiket Mor has suggested to set-up specialized banks to cater to the low income households. These banks will ensure that every citizen have a bank account by 2016.

List of Books Released in 2014

1.50 years of man in space: authoured by Garik Israelien, Brian May and David J Eicher
2. The book tittled Grandmaster Repertoire - 1.e4 vs The French, Caro-Kann and Philidor written by Parimarjan Negi
3. Delhi-based 13 year old school boy Yashwardhan Shukla authored a novel, Gods of Antarctica.
4. Former CAG Vinod Rai has authored a book titled Not Just an Accountant.
5. A book titled Assassination of Rajiv Gandhi: An Inside Job? authored by Faraz Ahmad
6.  Gujarat’s success story in Water Management authored by Sriram Vedire.
7. Munger through the Ages authored by late DP Yadav
8. A book Strictly Personal, Manmohan and Gursharan written by Daman Singh
9. Natwar Singh’s autobiography entitled One Life is Not Enough
10. The Lives of Others authored by Neel Mukherjee was shortlisted for Man Booker Prize 2014 in the fourth week of July 2014
11. The Vijay Mallya Story written by K Giriprakash was published by Penguin Books
12. A book Blood Feud: The Clintons vs. the Obamas written by Edward Klein
13. Pranab Mukherjee received first copy of a coffee-table book titled First Citizen: Pranab Mukherjee in Rashtrapati Bhavan that was released
14. Novel A Bad Character was authored by Deepti Kapoor.
15. The book titled Warrior State: Pakistan in the Contemporary World written by T V Paul
16. Biography of Dilip Kumar, entitled The Substance and the Shadow  by Uday Tara Nayar.
17. Getting India Back on track-an action agenda for reform edited by Bibek Debroy, Ashley Tellis & Reece Trevor.
18. Shekhar Gupta’s book entitled Anticipating India - The best of national interest
19. Book entitled ‘India Junction – A Window to the Nation’ was released by Arunendra Kumar, the Chairman of Railway Board.
20. A book Post Haste: Quintessential India written by B.G. Verghese
21. A book My Years with Rajiv and Sonia written by R.D.Pradhan
22. A Stamp is Born authored by C. R. Pakrashi
23. Arctic Summer written by Novelist Damon Galgut
24. The candidate was written by Indian Journalist Anirudh Bhattacharya.
25. Author Rakhshanda Jalil  released a book titled A Rebel And Her Cause: Life and Work
26. Hard Choices authored by Hillary Rodham Clinton
27. PC Parakh book entitled, Crusader or Conspirator? Coalgate and other Truths
28. A book entitled The Accidental Prime Minister: the making and unmaking of Manmohan Singh written by Sanjaya Baru
29. The book Lal Bahadur Shastri: Lessons in Leadership written by the Pavan Choudary.
30. The book Rationalised Roman for Kashmiri written by Dr R L Bhat
31. The book titled Narendra Modi: A Political Biography was recently published. The biography was written by Andy Marino..
32. The Sahara Testaments was written by Nigerian poet, Tade Ipadeola.
33. aswant Singh released a book entitled India at Risk – Mistakes, Misconceptions and Misadventures of security policy
34. Vice President released book entitled Akbar – The Aesthete authored by Dr. Indu Anand.
35. The Vice President of India M. Hamid Ansari released a book Ambedkar Awakening India’s Social Conscience
36. Vice President of India M. Hamid Ansari released a book titled Water, Peace and War – Confronting the Global Water Crisis
37.  ModiNomics-The book has been authored by Sameer Kochhar.
38. India’s Political and Foreign Relations with the Gulf Region edited by Prof AK Pasha.
39. Sangharsh ke safar ka nayak Mulayam written by Omveer Tomar
40. Bollywood actor Naseeruddin Shah released his autobiography And then One Day: A Memoir.

Recent Appointments(May to september)

1. Tata motors Limited appointed Mayank Pareek as president of Passenger Vehicle Division
2. President Pranab Mukherjee authorised Vigilance Commissioner Rajiv to act as CVC
3. Justice Handyala Dattu sworn-in as new CJI
4. O Panneerselvam sworn-in as Chief Minister of Tamil Nadu
5. Ashraf Ghani Ahmadzai sworn in as president of Afghanistan
6. Bangladesh government appointed Syed Muazzem Ali as its new Envoy to India

7. Suresh Prabhu selected as PM’s Sherpa for G-20 summit
8. Rajat Sharma appointed as the president of News Broadcasting Association
9. Ex-Ambassador of India to UN Hardeep Singh Puri appointed as Secretary General of ICM(Commission on Multilateralism)
10. Lieutenant General Rizwan Akhtar appointed as ISI chief
11. Lalitha Kumaramangalam appointed as chairperson of National Commission for Women
12. US President Barack Obama nominated Richard Rahul Verma as new US envoy to India
13. Chinese President appointed Le Yucheng as China's New Ambassador to India
14. PM Narendra Modi appointed Adil Zainulbhai as the Chairman of Quality Council of India (QCI)
15. Actor Leonardo DiCaprio appointed as UN Messenger of Peace
16. International Economic Association appointed Kaushik Basu as President-Elect
17. Antara Haldar of India became first non-European law lecturer at Cambridge
18. Krishan Kant Paul sworn-in as Governor of Manipur(additional charge)
19. Narendra Ambwani elected as chairman of the Advertising Standards Council of India
20. Subhash Chandra Garg appointed as Executive Director of World Bank

21. Chandrakala Padia was  appointed as first women chairperson of Indian Institute of Advanced Study (IIAS).
22. Ravindra Nath assumed the charge of Chairman and Managing director (CMD) of National Small Industries Corporation Limited (NSIC). 
23. Former CJI P Sathasivam appointed as Governor of Kerala
24. Union Government appointed chairman of Joint Intelligence Committee (JIC) RN Ravi as Naga interlocutor. He will be the government of India’s representative in Naga peace talks
25. Ramesh Chand Tayal appointed as CRPF Special Director-General
26. RN Ravi appointed as new chief of Joint Intelligence Committee
27. Thailand's king Bhumibol Adulyade endorsed General Prayuth Chan-ocha as PM
28. Finance Minister Ahmet Davutoglu named as Prime Minister of Turkey
29. Thai coup leader Prayuth Chan-ocha elected as Prime Minister of Thailand
30. Prof. Kuruppassery Varkey Thomas, Senior Congress MP of Ernakulum Constituency, Kerala was appointed as Public Accounts Commission Chairman
31. Rajni Razdan became UPSC Chairperson
32. AIADMK’s M Thambidurai elected as Lok Sabha Deputy Speaker
33. K.V. Chowdary appointed as new Chairman of Central Board of Direct Taxes 
34. Arvind Gupta, former Indian Foreign Service officer, was appointed as Deputy National Security Adviser (NSA)

35. SS Mundra took charge as fourth deputy governor of RBI.
36. Lt General Dalbir Singh Suhag took over as Chief of Army Staff
37. Chief of Air Staff, Air Chief Marshal Arup Raha  took over as the Chairman of the Chief of Staff Committee (COSC)
38. Amitabh Bachchan named as Maharashtra's horticulture ambassador
39. Veteran BJP Leader Kaptan Singh Solanki Appointed Governor Of Haryana
40. CAG Of India, Shashi Kant Sharma took charge as member of UN Board Of Auditors
41. SC appointed R S Cheema as special public prosecutor in coal scam
42. KN Tripathi sworn in as 22nd Governor of West Bengal
43. KN Tripathi sworn in as 22nd Governor of West Bengal

44. Yellapragada Sudharshan Rao  was appointed as Chairman of Indian Council of Historical Research (ICHR
45. B Ashok  took charge as Chairman of Indian Oil Corporation (IOC), the India’s largest oil firm
46. Emma Watson appointed as UN Goodwill Ambassador
47. Justice Arun Mishra, Justice Adarsh Kumar Goel and Justice Rohington F Nariman were appointed as SC judges
48. A.K. Dubey appointed as Chairman of Coal India Limited
49. Rajeev Topno was appointed as Private Secretary to Prime Minister Narendra Modi.
50. Jordan’s Prince, Zeid al-Hussein has been appointed as the next human rights chief
51. Shaktikanta Das appointed as the new Revenue Secretary
52. Vishal Sikka appointed as CEO of Infosys
53. Ranjit Kumar appointed as Solicitor General of India
54. PK Mishra appointed as Additional Principal Secretary to Prime Minister

55. Madhuri Dixit appointed as brand ambassador of health campaign, Mamta Abhiyan
56. Sanjay Kapoor appointed as Micromax Chairman
57. Kavery Banerjee appointed as Secretary, Department of Posts
58. Salvador Sanchez Ceren sworn-in as the President of El Salvador
59. Chandrashekhar Rao sworn-in as the First Chief Minister of Telengana
60. Ajit Doval appointed as new National Security Adviser
61. Hiroshi Naka appointed as Vice President and Auditor General of World Bank
62. Mukul Rohatgi appointed as 14th Attorney-General of India
63. Nripendra Misra appointed as Principal Secretary to PM Narendra Modi
64. Ahmed Maitiq sworn-in as the new Prime Minister of Libya
65. Petro Poroshenko won the Ukrainian Presidential Elections
66. Anandiben sworn-in as first woman Chief Minister of Gujarat
67. Naveen Patnaik sworn-in as Chief Minister of Odisha for fourth consecutive term
68. Pawan Chamling sworn-in as the Chief Minister of Sikkim for record 5th term
69. Jitan Ram Manjhi took oath as the Chief Minister of Bihar
70. Nabam Tuki sworn-in as the Chief Minister of Arunachal Pradesh

 Current Rates of Monetary Policy 
1. Repo Rate – 8%
2. Reverse Repo Rate – 7%
3. SLR – 22%
4. CRR – 4%
5. Bank Rate – 9%
6. MSF – 9%

FDI Limits

Defence - Raised to 49% from 26%
Pension - 49%
Insurance - Raised to 49% from 26%
Print Media - 26%
Civil Aviation - 49%
Public Sec. Banks - 20%
Private Sec. Banks - 74%
Multi Brand - 51%
Single Brand - 100%
Tourism - 100%
Agriculture- 100%
Airlines/Aviation – 49%
Tourism- 100%
Special Economic Zones- 100%

India ranking in different Indexes for 2013 ‐ 14:

1. Global Environment Performance Index 2014 – 155
2. Intellectual property (IP) environment 2014 – 25 (US ranked on the top followed by UK and France)
3. World Press Freedom Index 2014 ‐ 140 in the list of 180 countries 
4. World's best countries for doing business 2014 – 134
5. Global Peace Index 2014 – 143
6. Global Hunger Index 2013 ‐ 63
7. World Prosperity Index 2013 – 106.
8. Human Development Report 2014 – 135
9. Global Corruption Index 2014 – 94
10. Global Competitiveness Index 2014 ‐ 71

Committes in News in 2014

1. 1. H Devaraj Committee-reported that most of the deemed universities are not fit for being a university.
2. H R Khan panel- to assess unclaimed deposits in the PPF accounts.
3. Bombay High Court set up a committee to conduct forensic audit of NSEL

4. Sivaramakrishnan committee constituted by the Union Government to suggest the place to build the capital city of Andhra Pradesh

5. Prime Minister Narendra Modi on 27 August 2014 set up a Ramanujam committee to identify obsolete laws.
6.RBI governor Bimal Jalan- as the head of the Expenditure Management Commission
7.T he Union Ministry of Human Resource Development (HRD) on 3 August 2014 set up a four member Hari Gauttam committee to review the present status of UGC

8.Justice SB Sinha commission to probe the 2006 Meerut Fire tragedy. It will summit its report by 31 January 2015.
9. Union government on 24 July 2014 decided to appoint Suresh Prabhu Committee to review the gas pricing formula.
10. Union Ministry of Corporate Affairs on 19 July 2014 constituted R S Sharma Expert Committee on Cost Records and Cost Audits.
11. Independent High Level Committee headed by KK Mehrotra constituted by Government to inquire into gas leakage incident in Bhilai Steel Plant.
12. SC reconstituted a Special Investigation Team (SIT) to monitor probe into the black money case under the chairmanship of retired judge MB Shah.
13. AK Singh constituted a high level committee to review safety standards of tourist vessels operational at different tourist spots on Andaman Island.
14. Expert Committee constituted by Information and Broadcasting Ministry to review the institutional framework of Prasar Bharti has submitted its report.
15. Separate Bodoland state committee-former Union Home Secretary G K Pillai
16. A panel of Reserve Bank of India led by Nachiket Mor has suggested to set-up specialized banks to cater to the low income households. These banks will ensure that every citizen have a bank account by 2016.

List of Books Released in 2014

1.50 years of man in space: authoured by Garik Israelien, Brian May and David J Eicher
2. The book tittled Grandmaster Repertoire - 1.e4 vs The French, Caro-Kann and Philidor written by Parimarjan Negi
3. Delhi-based 13 year old school boy Yashwardhan Shukla authored a novel, Gods of Antarctica.
4. Former CAG Vinod Rai has authored a book titled Not Just an Accountant.
5. A book titled Assassination of Rajiv Gandhi: An Inside Job? authored by Faraz Ahmad
6.  Gujarat’s success story in Water Management authored by Sriram Vedire.
7. Munger through the Ages authored by late DP Yadav
8. A book Strictly Personal, Manmohan and Gursharan written by Daman Singh
9. Natwar Singh’s autobiography entitled One Life is Not Enough
10. The Lives of Others authored by Neel Mukherjee was shortlisted for Man Booker Prize 2014 in the fourth week of July 2014
11. The Vijay Mallya Story written by K Giriprakash was published by Penguin Books
12. A book Blood Feud: The Clintons vs. the Obamas written by Edward Klein
13. Pranab Mukherjee received first copy of a coffee-table book titled First Citizen: Pranab Mukherjee in Rashtrapati Bhavan that was released
14. Novel A Bad Character was authored by Deepti Kapoor.
15. The book titled Warrior State: Pakistan in the Contemporary World written by T V Paul
16. Biography of Dilip Kumar, entitled The Substance and the Shadow  by Uday Tara Nayar.
17. Getting India Back on track-an action agenda for reform edited by Bibek Debroy, Ashley Tellis & Reece Trevor.
18. Shekhar Gupta’s book entitled Anticipating India - The best of national interest
19. Book entitled ‘India Junction – A Window to the Nation’ was released by Arunendra Kumar, the Chairman of Railway Board.
20. A book Post Haste: Quintessential India written by B.G. Verghese
21. A book My Years with Rajiv and Sonia written by R.D.Pradhan
22. A Stamp is Born authored by C. R. Pakrashi
23. Arctic Summer written by Novelist Damon Galgut
24. The candidate was written by Indian Journalist Anirudh Bhattacharya.
25. Author Rakhshanda Jalil  released a book titled A Rebel And Her Cause: Life and Work
26. Hard Choices authored by Hillary Rodham Clinton
27. PC Parakh book entitled, Crusader or Conspirator? Coalgate and other Truths
28. A book entitled The Accidental Prime Minister: the making and unmaking of Manmohan Singh written by Sanjaya Baru
29. The book Lal Bahadur Shastri: Lessons in Leadership written by the Pavan Choudary.
30. The book Rationalised Roman for Kashmiri written by Dr R L Bhat
31. The book titled Narendra Modi: A Political Biography was recently published. The biography was written by Andy Marino..
32. The Sahara Testaments was written by Nigerian poet, Tade Ipadeola.
33. aswant Singh released a book entitled India at Risk – Mistakes, Misconceptions and Misadventures of security policy
34. Vice President released book entitled Akbar – The Aesthete authored by Dr. Indu Anand.
35. The Vice President of India M. Hamid Ansari released a book Ambedkar Awakening India’s Social Conscience
36. Vice President of India M. Hamid Ansari released a book titled Water, Peace and War – Confronting the Global Water Crisis
37.  ModiNomics-The book has been authored by Sameer Kochhar.
38. India’s Political and Foreign Relations with the Gulf Region edited by Prof AK Pasha.
39. Sangharsh ke safar ka nayak Mulayam written by Omveer Tomar
40. Bollywood actor Naseeruddin Shah released his autobiography And then One Day: A Memoir.

Recent Appointments(May to september)

1. Tata motors Limited appointed Mayank Pareek as president of Passenger Vehicle Division
2. President Pranab Mukherjee authorised Vigilance Commissioner Rajiv to act as CVC
3. Justice Handyala Dattu sworn-in as new CJI
4. O Panneerselvam sworn-in as Chief Minister of Tamil Nadu
5. Ashraf Ghani Ahmadzai sworn in as president of Afghanistan
6. Bangladesh government appointed Syed Muazzem Ali as its new Envoy to India

7. Suresh Prabhu selected as PM’s Sherpa for G-20 summit
8. Rajat Sharma appointed as the president of News Broadcasting Association
9. Ex-Ambassador of India to UN Hardeep Singh Puri appointed as Secretary General of ICM(Commission on Multilateralism)
10. Lieutenant General Rizwan Akhtar appointed as ISI chief
11. Lalitha Kumaramangalam appointed as chairperson of National Commission for Women
12. US President Barack Obama nominated Richard Rahul Verma as new US envoy to India
13. Chinese President appointed Le Yucheng as China's New Ambassador to India
14. PM Narendra Modi appointed Adil Zainulbhai as the Chairman of Quality Council of India (QCI)
15. Actor Leonardo DiCaprio appointed as UN Messenger of Peace
16. International Economic Association appointed Kaushik Basu as President-Elect
17. Antara Haldar of India became first non-European law lecturer at Cambridge
18. Krishan Kant Paul sworn-in as Governor of Manipur(additional charge)
19. Narendra Ambwani elected as chairman of the Advertising Standards Council of India
20. Subhash Chandra Garg appointed as Executive Director of World Bank

21. Chandrakala Padia was  appointed as first women chairperson of Indian Institute of Advanced Study (IIAS).
22. Ravindra Nath assumed the charge of Chairman and Managing director (CMD) of National Small Industries Corporation Limited (NSIC). 
23. Former CJI P Sathasivam appointed as Governor of Kerala
24. Union Government appointed chairman of Joint Intelligence Committee (JIC) RN Ravi as Naga interlocutor. He will be the government of India’s representative in Naga peace talks
25. Ramesh Chand Tayal appointed as CRPF Special Director-General
26. RN Ravi appointed as new chief of Joint Intelligence Committee
27. Thailand's king Bhumibol Adulyade endorsed General Prayuth Chan-ocha as PM
28. Finance Minister Ahmet Davutoglu named as Prime Minister of Turkey
29. Thai coup leader Prayuth Chan-ocha elected as Prime Minister of Thailand
30. Prof. Kuruppassery Varkey Thomas, Senior Congress MP of Ernakulum Constituency, Kerala was appointed as Public Accounts Commission Chairman
31. Rajni Razdan became UPSC Chairperson
32. AIADMK’s M Thambidurai elected as Lok Sabha Deputy Speaker
33. K.V. Chowdary appointed as new Chairman of Central Board of Direct Taxes 
34. Arvind Gupta, former Indian Foreign Service officer, was appointed as Deputy National Security Adviser (NSA)

35. SS Mundra took charge as fourth deputy governor of RBI.
36. Lt General Dalbir Singh Suhag took over as Chief of Army Staff
37. Chief of Air Staff, Air Chief Marshal Arup Raha  took over as the Chairman of the Chief of Staff Committee (COSC)
38. Amitabh Bachchan named as Maharashtra's horticulture ambassador
39. Veteran BJP Leader Kaptan Singh Solanki Appointed Governor Of Haryana
40. CAG Of India, Shashi Kant Sharma took charge as member of UN Board Of Auditors
41. SC appointed R S Cheema as special public prosecutor in coal scam
42. KN Tripathi sworn in as 22nd Governor of West Bengal
43. KN Tripathi sworn in as 22nd Governor of West Bengal

44. Yellapragada Sudharshan Rao  was appointed as Chairman of Indian Council of Historical Research (ICHR
45. B Ashok  took charge as Chairman of Indian Oil Corporation (IOC), the India’s largest oil firm
46. Emma Watson appointed as UN Goodwill Ambassador
47. Justice Arun Mishra, Justice Adarsh Kumar Goel and Justice Rohington F Nariman were appointed as SC judges
48. A.K. Dubey appointed as Chairman of Coal India Limited
49. Rajeev Topno was appointed as Private Secretary to Prime Minister Narendra Modi.
50. Jordan’s Prince, Zeid al-Hussein has been appointed as the next human rights chief
51. Shaktikanta Das appointed as the new Revenue Secretary
52. Vishal Sikka appointed as CEO of Infosys
53. Ranjit Kumar appointed as Solicitor General of India
54. PK Mishra appointed as Additional Principal Secretary to Prime Minister

55. Madhuri Dixit appointed as brand ambassador of health campaign, Mamta Abhiyan
56. Sanjay Kapoor appointed as Micromax Chairman
57. Kavery Banerjee appointed as Secretary, Department of Posts
58. Salvador Sanchez Ceren sworn-in as the President of El Salvador
59. Chandrashekhar Rao sworn-in as the First Chief Minister of Telengana
60. Ajit Doval appointed as new National Security Adviser
61. Hiroshi Naka appointed as Vice President and Auditor General of World Bank
62. Mukul Rohatgi appointed as 14th Attorney-General of India
63. Nripendra Misra appointed as Principal Secretary to PM Narendra Modi
64. Ahmed Maitiq sworn-in as the new Prime Minister of Libya
65. Petro Poroshenko won the Ukrainian Presidential Elections
66. Anandiben sworn-in as first woman Chief Minister of Gujarat
67. Naveen Patnaik sworn-in as Chief Minister of Odisha for fourth consecutive term
68. Pawan Chamling sworn-in as the Chief Minister of Sikkim for record 5th term
69. Jitan Ram Manjhi took oath as the Chief Minister of Bihar
70. Nabam Tuki sworn-in as the Chief Minister of Arunachal Pradesh

 Current Rates of Monetary Policy 
1. Repo Rate – 8%
2. Reverse Repo Rate – 7%
3. SLR – 22%
4. CRR – 4%
5. Bank Rate – 9%
6. MSF – 9%

FDI Limits

Defence - Raised to 49% from 26%
Pension - 49%
Insurance - Raised to 49% from 26%
Print Media - 26%
Civil Aviation - 49%
Public Sec. Banks - 20%
Private Sec. Banks - 74%
Multi Brand - 51%
Single Brand - 100%
Tourism - 100%
Agriculture- 100%
Airlines/Aviation – 49%
Tourism- 100%
Special Economic Zones- 100%

India ranking in different Indexes for 2013 ‐ 14:

1. Global Environment Performance Index 2014 – 155
2. Intellectual property (IP) environment 2014 – 25 (US ranked on the top followed by UK and France)
3. World Press Freedom Index 2014 ‐ 140 in the list of 180 countries 
4. World's best countries for doing business 2014 – 134
5. Global Peace Index 2014 – 143
6. Global Hunger Index 2013 ‐ 63
7. World Prosperity Index 2013 – 106.
8. Human Development Report 2014 – 135
9. Global Corruption Index 2014 – 94
10. Global Competitiveness Index 2014 ‐ 71