Important Current Affairs August 2017 Capsule with PDF
Awards & Honours
Mahabaleshwar receives Saraswati Samman o The prestigious literary award, the Saraswati Samman for 2016 was awarded to Konkani writer Mahabaleshwar Sail. o He was awarded for his novel “Hawthan" that captures the lives of the potter community in Goa. o Sail reflected on how Konkani language and literature had been subdued and how it took a resurgence after Goa’s independence to give the language its rightful place. Reliance Foundation awarded o Reliance Foundation was awarded the Rashtriya Khel Protsahan Award for its contribution in promotion of sports during national sports awards ceremony at Rashtrapati Bhawan. o Foundation focuses on using sports as a medium to encourage learning & breed leadership among youth in rural areas. o The foundation also backs Indian Super League, which has now become India's premier football tournament. Niti Aayog awards 12 women o Union minister Smriti Irani & Niti Aayog Vice Chairman Arvind Panagariya awarded 12 women to recognise the transformational impact of work undertaken by them across India's villages, towns & cities.
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o 'Women Transforming India Awards' was launched by Niti Aayog last year in partnership with UN in India & MyGov. o The awardees included Sunita Kamble, Raji Borthakur, Safeena Husain & Arunima Sinha Winner of Miss Transqueen India 2017 o Nitasha Biswas, a trans woman who hails from Kolkata, was crowned Miss Trans Queen India 2017, winner of the first beauty pageant for transwomen in the country. o Loiloi Haorongbam from Manipur became the 1st runner-up, while Ragasiya from Tamil Nadu, was the 2nd runner-up. o Nitasha will now represent India at the Miss International TransQueen in Thailand in March 2018. Cristiano Ronaldo wins award o Real Madrid and Portugal forward Cristiano Ronaldo and Barcelona's Lieke Martens were named the UEFA Players of the Year 2017. o Lieke Martens was named UEFA Women’s Player of the Year after leading the Netherlands to the 2017 Women’s Euro title this summer on home soil. o The awards ceremony was held in Monaco Pogba wins Player of the Season award o Manchester United midfielder Paul Pogba has been named the Europa League Player of the Season for 2016-17. o Pogba was part of the United side that won the Europa League for the first time in the club's history with a 2-0 win over Ajax in May. o United colleagues Henrikh Mkhitaryan and Zlatan Ibrahimovic were also shortlisted for the award but Pogba came out on top. Patnaik Award for Scientific Excellence o Odisha Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik conferred Biju Patnaik Award for Scientific Excellence for the year 2016 to Prof Digambar Behera.
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o Behera is senior professor & Head, Department of Pulmonary Medicine, PGIMER in Chandigarh. o The award is given to an Odia Scientist working any where in India or abroad each year for his/her lifetime research contributions in field of science & technology. Ronaldo wins UEFA Player of the Year o Cristiano Ronaldo has won his 3rd UEFA men's player of the year award in 4 seasons, beating Lionel Messi and Gianluigi Buffon to get the trophy. o He is the first footballer to receive the honour thrice. o Ronaldo was the top scorer in the Champions League with 12 goals last season. o UEFA Men's Player of the Year award is based on players' performances during 2016/17 season in all competitions. National Sports Awards o National Sports Awards are given every year to recognize & reward excellence in sports. o Devendra Jhajharia & Sardar Singh have been selected for this year's Rajiv Gandhi Khel Ratna Award. o Harmanpreet & P. N. Prakash are among 17 sportsmen who will be given Arjuna Awards. o 7 persons have been chosen for Dronacharya Awards for producing medal winners at International sports events. Oinam Bembem Devi wins Arjuna Award o Oinam Bembem Devi, flag bearer of Indian women’s football over the past 2 decades has been named as the winner of Arjuna Award. o Bembem becomes the 2nd Indian woman footballer to win the award, the first being Shanti Mullick in 1983.
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o Bembem, nicknamed ‘Durga of Indian Football, made her international debut in 1995, bowed out on a high after winning SAF Games Gold Medal in Shillong in 2015. Agriculture Leadership Award o Telangana CM, K. Chandrasekhar Rao has been selected for Agriculture Leadership Award-2017 given by ICFA. o Award is recognition of the efforts taken by him for development of agriculture through innovative irrigation projects taken up in the State. o National awards committee of organisation headed by M.S. Swaminathan nominated Rao for Agriculture Leadership Award in policy leadership category FICCI’s Healthcare Personality award o Dr Nanda Kumar Jairam, CEO, Chairman & Group Medical Director, Columbia Asia Hospitals, India, has been awarded ‘Healthcare Personality of the Year’ award. o He was given the award at 9th Healthcare Excellence Awards instituted by FICCI. o The Healthcare Excellence Awards by FICCI is an attempt to recognise the contributions of those who have set benchmarks of excellence in the healthcare space. Govt removes 1 from Dronacharya nominees o Sports Ministry has dropped para-sports coach Satyanarayana from the list of this year's Dronacharya awardees. o Satyanarayana's name was chucked off the list due to a criminal case pending against him. o Satyanarayana has coached Mariyappan Thangavelu, who won a gold in Rio Paralympics. o Dronacharya Award is annual sports coaching honour of India given by Ministry of Youth Affairs & Sports. 4 | P a g e
CSS Corp wins Silver Stevie o CSS Corp was named the winner of a Silver Stevie Award in Best New Product or Service of the Year - Software - Platform as a Service category at 14th Annual International Business Awards 2017. o CSS Corp was conferred the recognition for its proprietary AI platform, Yodaa. o The International Business Awards are the world's premier business awards program. 990 personnel awarded Police Medals o 990 personnel have been awarded Police Medals on the occasion of the Independence Day this year. o President’s Police Medal for Gallantry has been awarded posthumously to Chhattisgarh Police's STF Platoon Commander Shankar Rao. o Center honoured 2 CRPF commandants with Kirti Chakra and conferred 40 of the 190 police gallantry medals to J&K police & CRPF/BSF personnel deployed in the Valley. George bags first Kesari Media Award o Veteran journalist T J S George has been chosen for the first Kesari Media Award, instituted by the Kesari Memorial Journalist Trust. o The award comprises a purse of Rs 50,000, citation and a statuette designed by renowned artist Bhatathiri. o George is a writer and biographer who received a Padma Bhushan award in 2011 in the field of literature and education. The Obelisk Gate' wins Best Novel 2017 o Hugo Award for Best Novel 2017 was given to Nora K. Jemisin, an American writer for her work The Obelisk Gate. o She landed the prestigious science fiction prize for 2nd year running, a year after she became the 1st black person to win the Hugo award for best novel. 5 | P a g e
o The awarded book was the 2nd in the trilogy that started with The Fifth Season which won Hugo Award for Best Novel in 2016. Dev Patel selected for Asia Game Changer o British Indian actor Dev Patel has been selected for the prestigious Asia Game Changer award in recognition of him using celebrity to place a spotlight on India's poor. o The awards recognize those making a transformative and positive difference for the future of Asia and the world. o Patel's #lionheart campaign has raised over $250,000 in support of India's millions of homeless children. Indian philanthropist honoured o Indian businessman & philanthropist in UAE, Firoz Merchant was honoured with UAE's prestigious Community Service Medal. o He has spent over $4mn to free prisoners languishing in jails due to non- payment of debts o This is the first time any expatriate community member has been given this award. o Award was given to him in recognition of his efforts to serve the community in the country & beyond Prem Nazir Award for actor Sharada o Veteran actor and national award winner Sharada has been selected for this year's Prem Nazir Award. o Also known as Urvasi Sharada, she made her acting debut with the Telugu film Kanyasulkam in 1955 in a minor role. o Apart from the National Awards, she has been bestowed with several prestigious awards such as the Kerala State Film Awards, Filmfare Awards South, and Nandi Award. East Bengal honours Dhanraj Pillay
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o Former India hockey captain Dhanraj Pillay was honoured by East Bengal football club on its foundation day with its highest award, Bharat Gaurav. o He made his debut in 1989 with the national team and in a career spanning over 15 years he made 339 appearances and scored 170 goals. o He currently serves as the manager of the team and is a member of ad hoc committee of Indian Hockey Federation.
Books & Authors
World Book Fair to begin in Dehradun o The World Book Fair 2017 will begin in Dehradun from August 28, with the state government offering discounts on books based on the lives of national figures. o The fair is being organised with the primary aim of inculcating a habit of reading among students. o The theme of the world book fair would be ‘Padega Uttarakhand, Badega Uttarakhand’. o The fair organised by the National Book Trust. Raghuram Rajan Pens Book o Raghuram Rajan is all set to publish a book about his tenure as Governor of the Reserve Bank of India. o Titled "I Do What I Do", the book explains economic concepts and talks of issues like tolerance and connection between political freedom and prosperity. o The book is a collection of essays and speeches during his stint as RBI head. o Rajan was Governor of the RBI between 2013 and 2016 Book on Khushwant Singh
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o Punjab Chief Minister Amarinder Singh released a book on the popular author titled ‘Khushwant Singh: In Wisdom and in Jest’. o The book is co-authored by Vijay Narain Shankar and Onkar Singh. o Amarinder Singh recalled the crucial role played by Khushwant Singh in defusing tension in Punjab after Operation Blue Star. o He was decorated with Padma Bhushan in 1974 & Padma Vibhushan in 2007.
Days and Events
National Sports Day o National Sports Day in India is celebrated on August 29, the birthday of Dhyan Chand, one of the greatest field hockey players of all time. o On this occasion, President Kovind will give away the Sports Awards. o Known as ‘The Wizard’ in the world of hockey, Dhyan Chand scored more than 400 goals during his international career & earned 3 gold medals for India during 1928, 1932 & 1936 Olympics. Rajiv Gandhi's 73rd birth anniversary o The nation is remembering former Prime Minister Rajiv Gandhi on his 73rd birth anniversary today. o Rajiv Gandhi, who heralded the information and communication technology revolution in the country, was born on August 20, 1944 and served as Prime Minister from 1984 to 1989. o He was assassinated by LTTE in a suicide bombing at Sriperumbudur in Tamil Nadu on May 21, 1991 during election campaign. World Photography Day o World photography day is observed annually on August 19 to inspire photographers across the planet to share a single photo with the world.
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o First World Photo Day was celebrated in 2010 with 250 images submitted reaching 20,000 people. o According to Facebook data, India figures at 4th spot among top 10 countries that post most photos on FB & 5th spot among the same category for Messenger app. World humanitarian Day o World Humanitarian Day is held every year on 19 August to pay tribute to aid workers who risk their lives in humanitarian service & to rally support for people affected by crises around the world. o The inspiration for inaugural WHD came on August 19, 2003 when a terrorist attack hit the UN headquarters in Baghdad, killing 22 people o Theme of this year's World Humanitarian Day is #NotATarget. Nation celebrates 71st Independence Day o India celebrated its 71st Independence Day with the main function at Red Fort where PM Modi unfurled National Flag synchronized with 21-Gun Salute. o This was Modi's 4th Independence Day address where he presented a report card of his govt's accomplishments. o Aug 15 was chosen by Lord Mountbatten as it was the same day in 1945 that Japan surrendered to Allied Forces at the end of World War II. Organ Donation Day o India observes 13th of August as Organ Donation Day every year with an aim to raise & increase awareness and encourage people to pledge to donate organs after death. o Every year 200,000 people in India need a new kidney & 100,000 need a new liver, but only 2 to 3% of the demand for new organs is met. o 1st organ donation took place in 1954 when a living donor gave a kidney to his identical twin ‘Gaj Yatra’ to mark World Elephant Day 9 | P a g e
o Union Minister, Harsh Vardhan launched ‘Gaj Yatra’, a nationwide campaign to protect elephants on the occasion of World Elephant Day. o The campaign is planned to cover 12 elephant range states. o Artists & craftsmen will create life-size works on the theme of elephants in places along the route of the roadshow. o ‘Gaju’ mascot, which was released by Ministry in 2012, will be helm the campaign. International Youth Day o International Youth Day is an awareness day designated by the United Nations, observed annually on 12 August. o The purpose of the day is to draw attention to a given set of cultural and legal issues surrounding youth. o The theme of International Youth Day 2017 is Youth Building Peace. o IYD was designated by the United Nations in 1999 with the adoption of Resolution 54/120. World Bio-Fuel Day o The International Biodiesel Day (or World Bio-fuel Day) is observed every year on August 10 to create awareness about the importance of non-fossil fuels. o On this day in 1893, Sir Rudalph Diesel (inventor of the diesel engine) for the first time successfully ran mechanical engine with Peanut Oil. o The Indian govt announced various schemes to promote non-fossil fuels. Day of World’s Indigenous Peoples o United Nations’ International Day of World's Indigenous People is observed on Aug 9 every year to promote & protect rights of indigenous population. o There are 370 mn indigenous people in the world, living across 90 countries, they make up less than 5% of the world's population.
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o Indigenous peoples are inheritors & practitioners of unique cultures & ways of relating to people & environment. 75th anniversary of Quit India Movement o Nation is celebrating 75th anniversary of Quit India Movement with “Sankalp se Siddhi - The attainment through resolve" being the theme for 2017. o PM Modi urged the nation to make India free from poverty, corruption, terrorism, casteism, & to create a 'New India' by 2022. o Quit India Movement was launched by Mahatma Gandhi on 9th August, 1942, demanding an end to British Rule in India. National Handloom Day o National Handloom Day is being observed to give an impetus to sector & encourage use of hand made loom in the country. o 7th August has been chosen due to its special significance as it was on this day that Swadeshi Movement was launched in 1905. o Main event will be held in Guwahati to celebrate 3rd Handloom Day. 1st National Handloom Day was launched by PM Modi on 7th August, 2015 in Chennai. Hiroshima marks 72nd anniversary o Hiroshima marked 72nd anniversary of US atomic bombing at its annual memorial ceremony. o This year’s ceremony follows the adoption by 122 UN members of the world’s first treaty to comprehensively prohibit nuclear weapons. o Japan suffered 2 nuclear attacks at the end of WW II by US when a uranium-core atomic bomb dubbed “Little Boy” exploded in Hiroshima on Aug. 6, 1945, killing 140,000 people.
Committees & Recommendations
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Task force on artificial intelligence o Commerce & industry ministry has constituted an 18-member task force to explore possibilities to leverage artificial intelligence for economic transformation. o Panel will explore possibilities to leverage AI for development across various fields & will submit recommendations to the govt, industry and research institutions. o V. Kamakoti from IIT Madras will be the chairperson of the task force. 40-member panel to select films for IFFI o The Information and Broadcasting Ministry has constituted a 40-member 'preview committee' with filmmaker Vivek Agnihotri as its convenor to select movies for the international film festival. o The International Film Festival of India will be held in Goa from November 20 to 28. o Other members of committee include author & Padma Shri-awardee Narendra Kohli & actress Hrishitaa Bhatt. Panel to make drugs more affordable o The government has constituted a committee of joint secretaries for ensuring enhanced affordability, availability and accessibility of drugs for the citizens. o Committee would also review the scope of Drugs (Price Control) Order 2013 & suggest ways for strengthening the regulatory provisions of the order. o It would suggest ways to make pricing policy in favour of poor patients. Committee on fair market conduct o SEBI has setup a committee on fair market conduct which will suggest measures for improving surveillance of the markets.
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o It will also suggest measures for strengthening rules for algo trades and for recommending steps to align insider trading regulations with Companies Act provisions. o The panel will be setup under the chairmanship of former law secretary T K Viswanathan Committee for data protection o Ministry of Electronics & Information Technology has constituted 10 member committee which will identify key data protection issues in India & recommend methods of addressing them. o Committee will also suggest a draft Data Protection Bill. Protection of Data is expected to provide big boost to Digital economy of the country. o Committee will be headed by SC Judge Justice B N Srikrishna.
International Affairs
France holds migration summit o European leaders will meet their counterparts from Niger, Chad and Libya in Paris to discuss ways of stemming economic migration. o Getting Europe’s migrant crisis under control will be the main focus of a summit. o European countries are at loggerheads over how to deal with the arrival of hundreds of thousands of people fleeing war, poverty and political upheaval in Middle East & Africa. Toughest law against plastic bags o Kenya has imposed world’s toughest laws to reduce plastic pollution, with people selling or using plastic bags at risk of up to 4 years in prison & fines of up to 4m Kenyan shillings. o With this move Kenya joins 40 other countries that have banned, partly banned or taxed single use plastic bags, including China, France & Italy. 13 | P a g e
o It took Kenya 3 attempts over 10 years to finally pass the ban. Ban on transgender military recruits o President Trump has signed a memorandum that directs US military to not accept transgender individuals as recruits. o It also halts use of govt funds for sex-reassignment surgeries for active personnel unless the process is already under way. o Announcement reversed a policy shift started under his predecessor, President Obama. o There are about 15,000 transgender people serving in US military. Canada to allow gender-neutral passports o Canadian citizens who do not identify as male or female will soon be able to mark "X" on their passports and other identity documents. o The step has been taken so that Canadians are able to better reflect their gender identity. o This measure will advance equality for all Canadian citizens irrespective of their gender identity and expression. US to build radar systems in Palau o US has announced plans to install radar systems in Palau, a move that will increase its monitoring ability in western Pacific region o While Palau is an independent nation, it has no military & US is responsible for its defence under an agreement with Washington o Palau is about 1,300km south-west of Guam, US Pacific territory that Pyongyang threatened to fire missiles towards earlier this month International Military Music Festival o A Tri-Services band from Indian Armed Forces has been invited to perform in International Military Music Festival in Moscow o International Military Music Festival Spasskaya Tower is the parade of best military music bands of Russia & other countries that takes place every year at Red Square in Moscow 14 | P a g e
o Participation of Tri- Services Band would foster better ties b/w Armed Forces of 2 countries US imposes financial sanctions o United States has slapped strong financial sanctions on Venezuela, barring banks from any new deals with the government. o It also prohibits dealings in certain existing bonds owned by the Venezuelan public sector, as well as dividend payments to the government. o Venezuela has been engulfed in an economic crisis, featuring skyrocketing inflation and food shortages. Smart snow leopard plan o Nepal has launched its climate-smart snow leopard landscape management plan, leading the way in safeguarding the endangered species and its habitat. o The conservation plan addresses key current and emerging threats to the snow leopards, including climate change. o This is the first climate-smart landscape management plan for snow leopard conservation in the world. First-ever shipment of coal to Ukraine o The United States has sent its first shipment of anthracite coal to Ukraine from the U.S. port of Baltimore under a deal designed to increase Ukraine's energy security. o The first shipment of 62,000 tons is expected to arrive in Odesa’s Yuzhnyy port in three weeks. o Most of Ukraine’s anthracite coal in the past came from parts of Donbas that are now controlled by Russia-backed separatists. China to relaunch fastest bullet trains o China is relaunching world's fastest bullet trains running at 350 km/h. o China first ran trains at 350 km/h in 2008 but cut speeds back to 250-300 km/h in 2011 following a two-train collision. 15 | P a g e
o Trains will service the route from Beijing to Shanghai, making 1250 km journey in just 4 hr, 30 mins. o China has spent about $360 bn on high-speed rail, building by far largest network in the world. Saudi Arabia to open border o Saudi Arabia’s King Salman has ordered reopening of border with Qatar to facilitate annual haj pilgrimage amidst a feud that has triggered tensions b/w 2 nations since June o .Qatari pilgrims can pass through crossing without permits usually needed to be obtained in advance for haj. o Qatar had accused Saudi of politicizing pilgrimage & complained to UN Special Rapporteur on freedom of religion. Nepal and China sign three agreements o Nepal & China have reached 3 different bilateral agreements to bolster economic cooperation between the two countries. o Agreements cover 3 different domains - economic & technological cooperation, oil & gas resources survey project & framework agreement on promotion of investment & economic cooperation. o Both the sides also agreed to enhance functions & facilities at Nepal-China border ports. G-7 interior ministers summit o Italy will host a summit of Group of Seven Interior Ministers centered on security issues in the fall. o The meeting is being organized at the request of Italy's G-7 partners: Canada, France, Germany, the United Kingdom, Japan and the United States. o Italy currently holds the rotating helm of the G-7 industrialized nations. UN declares Somalia free of polio
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o World Health Organisation has declared Somalia polio free as it has not recorded any case of polio disease in Somalia in the last 3 years. o According to WHO Somalia recorded last case of polio in 2014 in the central part of the country but has since then remained free of the paralyzing disease. o Afghanistan, Nigeria and Pakistan are the remaining countries where polio is still being recorded. Pakistan celebrates Independence Day o Pakistan hoisted largest flag in its history at Attari—Wagah border near Lahore to mark country’s 70th Independence Day. o The flag is reported to be the highest one in South Asia and the 8th highest in the world. o Pak came into existence as a result of Pakistan Movement which aimed for creation of a separate Muslim state by partition of north-western & north- eastern regions of undivided India. UK to scrap ‘outdated’ landing cards o Britain has announced plans to scrap landing cards for Indians and other non-EU citizens as part of of the ongoing digital transformation of border & to ease passenger experience. o Scrapping the cards is expected to free immigration personnel for other duties while saving nearly £3.6 million every year. o Passengers arriving at Heathrow and other ports have filled out these cards since 1971. UNSC imposes sanctions on North Korea o United Nations Security Council has passed a resolution imposing sanctions on North Korea for its continued ICBM testing & violations of UN resolutions. o Sanction includes ban on coal & other exports worth over $1 billion.
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o It would be the 7th set of UN sanctions imposed on North Korea since it 1st nuclear test in 2006. o It prevents North Korea from increasing no. of workers it sends abroad. Qatar to offer permanent residency o Qatar’s Cabinet has approved a draft law making permanent residency available to some non-citizens, marking a shift from its reliance on its longstanding visa-sponsorship system. o Permits could be granted to children of Qatari women married to foreigners, people who “offered valuable services to the country” and those with special skills. o This move is first of its kind among Gulf Arab states. Face recognition surveillance o Germany has test launched a face recognition surveillance system at Berlin’s railway station that would contribute to anti-terrorism efforts. o It aims to determine whether cameras can automatically recognize faces of specific persons & single them out from crowd. o When a criminal/terrorist suspect enter/exit public transport facility, system would immediately warn police to take prompt action. China opens first overseas base o China has formally opened its first overseas military base in Djibouti. o It will be used to resupply navy ships taking part in peacekeeping and humanitarian missions off the coasts of Yemen and Somalia. o China's agreement with Djibouti ensures its military presence in the country up until 2026, with a contingent of up to 10,000 soldiers. o Djibouti also hosts troops from US, France & Japan.
National Affairs
Government extends OBC creamy layer 18 | P a g e
o Union Cabinet has decided to extend the concept of creamy layer in OBC reservations to PSU & financial institutions. o It will ensure children of those serving in lower categories in PSUs & other institutions to get benefit of OBC reservation at par with children of people serving in lower categories in govt. o Candidates whose parents hold constitutional posts or group A & B posts are excluded. Host city logo for Kochi o Kerala Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan launched the host city logo for Kochi, one of the venues of Fifa Under-17 World Cup. o The logo represents and reflects Kochi's identity and will be a valuable tool in linking the local community in a global World Cup. o The host city logo will allow all football fans in Kochi to have a local flavour and will be critical in the promotion of the tournament. No interview in government jobs o Uttar Pradesh Govt has decided to end the process of holding interview for selection of candidates for the govt jobs in all the non-gazetted posts of Group B, C and D categories. o This new rule will not be binding on the on-going recruitment for Class II officers. o The decision was taken in a cabinet meeting chaired by Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath. Jammu gets Rs 200 crore funds o Over Rs 200 crore funds have been allocated for Jammu under the Atal Mission for Rejuvenation and Urban Transformation. o Several major towns of the state would also be covered under the AMRUT programme so that they are replete with all modern facilities of urban living.
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o Funds have been allocated for development of various sectors like urban transport, green spaces, drainage and sewerage. PM Modi inaugurates hanging bridge o Prime Minister Modi dedicated a hanging bridge built across the Chambal river at Kota to the nation. o The bridge took 10 years to meet its completion at a cost of over Rs 200 crore. o Cables of the bridge are aerodynamic giving them the ability to be neutral in stormy winds. o The bridge is a part of the East West Corridor of Golden Quadrangle Project of National Highways Authority of India. Ease of Doing Business report o NITI Aayog launched Ease of Doing Business report based on an Enterprise Survey of 3,500 manufacturing firms across Indian states & UT's. o Survey has conducted along with IDFC Institute, to assess business regulations & enabling environment across India from firms’ perspective. o Enterprise Survey was conducted in recognition of the importance of monitoring business environment in India. Programme to provide technical skills o As many as 60,000 govt high school students in Kerala will be taught animation, electronic, hardware & cyber-safety under the 'Hi School Kuttikootam' programme o Organised by state Kerala Infrastructure & Technology for Education, it aims at empowering students in these fields by giving them regular training o As many as 1 million students would be directly benefited immediately by this training Mandarin made a must for ITBP 20 | P a g e
o Following Doklam standoff, Indo Tibetan Border Police has decided to make it compulsory for new recruits to learn Chinese language — both Mandarin & version of the language that is spoken in Tibet. o Good knowledge of Chinese language will help in avoiding misunderstandings & lead to better resolution of confrontations. o Currently, about 150 officers & men in ITBP know the language. Pan India camps o Ministry of Textiles has decided to organize Pan India camps in handlooms and handicrafts clusters, under the initiative -Hastkala Sahyog Shivir. o This initiative is dedicated to Pandit Deendayal Upadhyay Garib Kalyan Varsh, the birth centenary year of Pandit Deendayal Upadhyay. o The camps will be organized during 7th to 17th of October this year. Synergy Conference on Defence Pension o The Defence Accounts Department, DAD organised its first Synergy Conference on Defence Pensions in New Delhi. o The objective of the conference was to obtain feedback from the pensioners that would help the department to serve them better with constantly improving systems and procedures. o Digitization of pension data and implementation of a pensionsapp were also discussed in detail. 56th annual aerospace conference o The 56th annual three-day conference of the Indian Society of Aerospace Medicine is being held in Bengaluru. o It is being held at the Institute of Aerospace Medicine on Old Airport Road. o The Conference is being attended by service delegates, civilian delegates and foreign delegates with 15 scientific sessions. Right to privacy judgment 21 | P a g e
o In a landmark decision, the Supreme Court has declared right to privacy a fundamental right under the Constitution. o A 9 judge constitution bench headed by Chief Justice J S Khehar ruled that right to privacy is an intrinsic part of Right to Life & Personal Liberty under Article 21 and entire Part III of the Constitution. o The Union government had argued that privacy is a common law right. Campaign for clean and healthy society o Union Minister for Social Justice & Empowerment Tanwar Chand Gehlot inaugurated a 9 day campaign on Clean Society-Healthy Society in Delhi. o Campaign will be carried out by Brahma Kumaris organization in different areas of Delhi, Noida, Gurugram & Faridabad. o The organization will sensitize the public on inner & outer cleanliness, holistic health & hygiene, moral values & character building. Grid connected roof top solar projects o Odisha Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik has launched grid-connected rooftop solar project through net-metering system. o Under the programme, consumers can install solar plants on their rooftops & consume generated solar power during day time. o Additional solar power generated could be exported through net-meter. o State govt will provide 30% subsidy to consumers for installing rooftop solar system Govt raises 'creamy layer' income cap o Govt has raised income limit defining creamy layer for OBC reservation by Rs 2 lakh p.a. o OBC families earning up to Rs 8 lakh p.a will not be considered in the creamy layer. o Better-educated member of OBC who cannot avail govt sponsored educational & job benefits are called creamy layer.
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o Supreme Court had raised this ceiling from Rs. 1 lakh to 6 lakh in 2013 & is to be revised every 3 years. Jaitley chairs the 17th meeting of FSDC o The 17th Meeting of the Financial Stability and Development Council was held in New Delhi under the Chairmanship of Arun Jaitley. o The Council took note of progress of Financial Sector Assessment Program for India, jointly conducted by IMF and World Bank. o The Council also deliberated on strengthening the regulation of the Credit Rating Agencies. First Videsh Bhavan in Mumbai o Sushma Swaraj will inaugurate country's first Videsh Bhavan, assimilating all Regional Passport Offices under one roof, at Bandra Kurla Complex in Mumbai. o As a first pilot project, 4 offices of MEA - RPO, PoE, Branch Secretariat & Regional Office of ICCR have been assimilated & brought under one roof. o It is expected to cut costs besides improving efficiency & hastening delivery of services National Sports Museum to be established o Ministry of Youth Affairs and Sports is going to establish National Sports Museum at Jawaharlal Nehru Stadium, New Delhi. o Museum will showcase India’s achievements in sports and also focus on the traditional sports within the country. o It will display achievements of Indian greats in sports & also act as an educational hub & offer an opportunity for young to delve into some sporting activity. Mentor India Campaign o NITI Aayog CEO Amitabh Kant will launch the Mentor India Campaign in New Delhi. 23 | P a g e
o The campaign is a strategic nation building initiative to engage leaders who can nurture and guide students at more than 900 Atal Tinkering Labs. o The labs are dedicated workspaces where students from Class 6th to 12th learn innovation skills and develop ideas that will go on to transform India. Door step Aadhar enrolment o UIDAI has joined hands with CSC India for launching door step enrolment facility in Delhi for elderly, patients & others who cannot travel to Aadhar centres o A mobile van in partnership with CSC will go & enrol people who are unable to travel to centres for enrollment o CSC provides permit & monitors operations of common service centres across India which provide govt services in rural area Yatra against child trafficking o Nobel laureate Kailash Satyarthi would embark on a 35-day Bharat Yatra, leading a fight against child trafficking & child sexual abuse across the country. o The yatra will begin in Kanyakumari in Tamil Nadu on September 11 and will conclude in Delhi on October 15, after covering 22 states. o The start of Bharat Yatra will mark the launch of a three-year campaign against child sexual abuse. Triple Talaq Unconstitutional o Triple talaq, the controversial Muslim divorce law that allows men to leave their wives immediately by uttering "talaq" thrice has been banned by Supreme Court o Calling it "bad in law", a constitution bench of 5 judges said that triple talaq "is not integral to religious practice & violates constitutional morality" 24 | P a g e
o 5 judges of different faiths heard the case over 5 days from May 12 to May 18 8th World Renewable Energy Technology o 8th World Renewable Energy Technology Congress took place in New Delhi. o It focusses on Green Technologies to ensure clean & affordable Renewable Energy supplies. o It provides an opportunity & open forum to exchange info & best practices by bringing together multi stake holders. o It is visualized & planned in backdrop of India's vision on achieving Energy Independence & Power for all by 2022. Physical Police verification to end o Govt is planning to end physical police verification for passports by replacing it with a connection to national database of crimes & criminals that will keep track of background of a passport applicant. o CCTNS is expected to be linked with passport service allowing online police verification for passports within a year. o It will minimise contact with police & reduce time. AP adopts national policy for Tibetans o Arunachal Pradesh has adopted a rehabilitation policy which deals with matters concerning land lease, extending Central & state benefits to Tibetans residing in the state. o With this AP joins Himachal Pradesh & Uttarakhand who have already done the same in 2015 after Govt of India formalized Tibetan Rehabilitation policy act in 2014. o Arunachal Pradesh houses 4h largest no of Tibetans in India Clouding seeding Project Varshadhari o The cloud seeding experiment called Project Varshadhari was launched in Bengaluru under which an aircraft will spray chemicals to induce rainfall. 25 | P a g e
o The flight for cloud seeding – BQ-100 Beechcraft will spray Silver Iodide, Sodium Chloride & Potassium Chloride to condense water particles. o It aims to condense small water particles by clouds to droplets of 50 microns, which can constitute rains. Delhi bans manual cleaning of sewers o Delhi social welfare minister Rajendra Pal Gautam has announced a blanket ban on manual cleaning of sewers. o Any contractor or engineer found getting the sewer lines or tanks cleaned manually will be booked under culpable homicide instead of negligence. o This comes after a man died while cleaning a sewer tank in LNJP Hospital of the Delhi Govt, while 3 others were injured. NABARD sanctions loan to Rajasthan govt o National Bank of Agriculture and Rural Development has sanctioned a loan of Rs 1,349.55 cr to Rajasthan govt. o Loan has been sanctioned for creation of rural infrastructure in the state under the Rural Infrastructure Development Fund. o It also includes assistance for construction of 2 rural drinking water supply projects, strengthening rural roads & modernization of 3 major irrigation projects Digital police portal o A digital police portal under CCTNS project, which aims to create a national database of crimes & criminals, was launched by Home Minister Rajnath Singh. o It will provide 11 searches and 46 reports from the national database for state police and central investigation agencies. o It will also provide citizens. facility for online complaint registration and request for antecedent verification. Scheme for Compassionate Family Pension
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o Assam govt will launch a new Scheme called, Scheme for Compassionate Family Pension in lieu of Compassionate Appointment. o The scheme will be applicable to those employees who died in harness on or after April 1, 2017. o It will be applicable to all employees of the state govt, all others as eligible under Assam Services Rules, 1969 & All India Services officers borne on Assam cadre. SDMC launches ‘terminator train’ o South Delhi Municipal Corporation has pressed into service a train called ‘mosquito terminator’. o Power sprayers which will be attached to trucks placed on the train will be used to spray insecticide to fight vector-borne diseases such as dengue. o Insecticide will be sprayed on sides of track to eliminate menace of mosquitoes. o It will not only eliminate larvae but also neutralize mosquitoes. 15 medical outlets of AMRIT Deendayal o Union Minister of Health & Family Welfare JP Nadda will launch 15 medical outlets of AMRIT Deendayal in Assam, UP & Punjab. o He will also inaugurate one outlet of AMRIT Deendayal at Indira Gandhi Medical College Shimla. o A purpose of AMRIT Deendayal programme is to provide different kind of medicines & equipment’s on cheap rates to patients, discount up to 60% on MRP is provided to patients. JEE advanced to go completely online o Joint Entrance Examination for Indian Institute of Technology will go completely online from 2018. o Joint Admission Board, which is the policy-making body on IIT admissions, took the decision at a meeting in Chennai.
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o Union HRD Ministry had earlier introduced the option of taking JEE- Mains online. o JEE-Mains is the entrance examination for admission to engineering courses offered across India. Delegation of Powers to BRO o Defence Ministry has approved delegation of administrative & financial powers to Border Roads Organisation. o Functioning under control of Ministry of Defence, BRO is engaged in road construction to provide connectivity to difficult & inaccessible regions in the border areas. o This has been done to bring transformational changes in organization in order to improve the pace of execution of works Orient Craft Textile inaugurated o To celebrate 2nd phase of ‘Momentum Jharkhand’, Smriti Irani was made the chief guest of the event. o Union Minister for Textile and I&B, Smriti Irani inaugurated Jharkhand’s 1st textiles manufacturing & export unit ‘Orient Craft Ltd’ in Ranchi. o Currently, Jharkhand produces 1,200 metric tonnes of tasar silk alone every year & shares 62% share in total market production of the entire country. PPP model for handling e-waste o Govt is exploring possibility of setting up an eco-park under public-private partnership mode to make R&D in e-waste recycling commercially viable. o It could provide a system for channelisation of e-waste for environmentally sound recycling in organised sector by bringing together formal & informal sector. o R&D in tech pertaining to management of e-waste falls within the domain of DeitY. RBI to release new Rs 50 notes 28 | P a g e
o Reserve Bank of India will soon release Rs 50 denomination banknotes in the Mahatma Gandhi Series, having signature of Governor Urjit R. Patel. o Base colour of the new note is fluorescent blue & has a motif of Hampi with Chariot on the reverse, depicting the country's cultural heritage. o The note has geometric patterns aligning with the overall colour scheme, both at the obverse and reverse. Navika Sagar Parikrama o Navika Sagar Parikrama, a project wherein a team of women officers of the Indian Navy would circumnavigate the globe on an Indian-built sail boat INSV Tarini is scheduled to commence in early Sep 17. o This is the first ever Indian circumnavigation of the globe by an all-women crew. o It is aimed at promoting women empowerment in the country and ocean sailing by the Indian Navy. CCEA approves proposal of DIPAM o Cabinet Committee on Economic Affairs has approved the proposal of DIPAM for the strategic disinvestment. o The approval will help in speedy completion of strategic disinvestment transactions. o The department will set up an alternative mechanism to decide on matters relating to terms and conditions of the sale from the stage of inviting of Express of Interests till inviting of financial bid. North Koel Reservoir Project o The Union Cabinet approved proposal to complete the balance works of North Koel Reservoir Project in Bihar, stalled since 1993. o Completion of the North Koel Reservoir Project will create annual irrigation potential for 1,11,521 hectares of agricultural land (91,917 hectares in Bihar and 19,604 hectares in Jharkhand). o The construction of the project was originally started in the year 1972. 29 | P a g e
FASTags for Electronic Toll Collection o In order to facilitate the availability of FASTags for Electronic Toll Collection, NHAI has taken two revolutionary steps in consultation with RBI and NPCI. o These include Online sale of FASTags and offline sale through Common Services Centre near toll plazas. o FASTag can also be purchased online from Issuer Banks websites / NHAI website / IHMCL website. EESL and IOCL, BPCL & HPCL sign MOUs o Energy Efficiency Services Limited signed a MoU with Oil Marketing Companies under the Ministry of Petroleum and Natural Gas for distribution of energy efficient appliances. o The consumer can purchase high-quality 9W LED Bulbs for Rs 70, 20W LED Tubelight for Rs 220 and Five-Star Rated Ceiling Fan for Rs 1200. o The three Public Sector Oil Marketing Companies are IOC, HP& BPCL. India signs Global Environment Facility o A Grant Agreement from the Global Environment Facility of the World Bank of $24.64 million for “Ecosystem Service Improvement Project” was signed by the govt. o The project will be financed by the World Bank out of its GEF Trust Fund. o The project’s duration is 5 years. World’s largest student survey o The Human Resource Development Ministry has announced November 13 as the date for conducting its National Assessment Survey for the students of class 3, 5 & 8. o This time, approximately 30 lakh students will be assessed in the year 2017-18 making it the world’s largest sample survey of student learning achievement. o The date was announced by HRD Minister Prakash Javdekar. 30 | P a g e
Indira canteen in Bengaluru o Congress vice-president Rahul Gandhi launched 'Indira Canteen' in Bengaluru with the vision of providing good quality of food to the poor at a cheap price. o Breakfast would be served at Rs. 5 and lunch and dinner at Rs. 10 in the canteen. o 101 canteens will be opened in the initial phase. More will be opened in 97 wards from October 2 to mark Mahatma Gandhi’s 150th birthday. Govt to make 20 universities world class o Prime Minister Modi has said his govt plans to invest Rs 1,000 cr to transform 20 universities into "world class" educational institutions. o Centre has taken an important step to grant the universities freedom from restrictions to make them world class universities. o Govt will not interfere in their functioning & funds up to Rs 1,000 cr will be provided to transform these institutions. Portal to Honour Gallantry Award Winners o On 71st Independence Day, the govt launched an online portal dedicated to gallantry award winners, bestowed since Independence. o Portal will preserve & tell stories of bravest men & women, civilians as well as armed forces personnel. o Website with domain name gallantryawards.gov.in gives details of Chakra Series awardees. o It is being jointly developed by the Union Home and Defence Ministries, FB and others to remove Blue Whale links o Govt has directed internet majors - Google, Facebook, Whatsapp, Instagram, Microsoft & Yahoo to immediately remove links of dangerous online game Blue Whale Challenge.
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o Blue Whale challenge is reportedly a suicide game in which player is given certain tasks to complete for a period of 50 days and final task leads to suicide. o Challenge has led to suicide of children in India & other countries GIS-enabled portal o Centre has brought out an online database of more than half a million hectares of land assisting industry. o GIS enabled database has details of about 3000 industrial parks, area-wise availability of agricultural/horticultural crops & mineral production. o Database is being developed by DIPP, National e-Governance Division & BISAG o It aims to eliminate information asymmetry affecting investments Common use items exempt from e-way bill o LPG, kerosene & currency are among the common use items that have been exempted from e-way bill provision. o Council has approved a list of 153 items that have been exempted from obtaining e-way bills. o GST mandates obtaining e-way bills for transporting goods consignment of more than Rs 50,000 in value. o E-way bill is not required if goods are transported by non-motorised conveyances. One year exemption for TN from NEET o Central govt has decided to grant exemption of 1 year from NEET system for students of govt colleges in Tamil Nadu. o TN comprises of more than 90% students from State Board, which makes it difficult for them to qualify NEET which is based on CBSE syllabus. o NEET is an entrance exam for students who wish to study graduate medical course or PG course in govt or private medical colleges in India. Sankalp Se Siddhi Program in Coimbatore 32 | P a g e
o To take forward the initiative PM Modi for a New India movement from 2017 – 2022, a Sankalp Se Siddhi programme was held in Coimbatore. o Minister of State for Culture and Tourism (Independent Charge), Dr. Mahesh Sharma graced the occasion. o The New India Movement 2017-2022 envisages an India free of Poverty, Corruption, Terrorism, Communalism, Casteism and Un-cleanliness. Jharkhand passes Religious Freedom Bill o Jharkhand Assembly has passed Religious Freedom Bill 2017 that aims to stop forced conversions in the state. o Bill has provision for imprisonment of 3 years & fine of Rs 50,000 or both, and 4 year- imprisonment & Rs 1 lakh fine, or both, if the person converted is a minor, woman or a member of SC or ST. o Person converting willingly will have to inform Deputy Commissioner. National anthem video in sign language o Union Minister of State for HRD Mahendra Nath Pandey has launched an Indian National Anthem video in sign language. o Directed by filmmaker Govind Nihalani, 3 minute video features Bollywood actor Amitabh Bachchan along with physically challenged children performing anthem in sign language with the Red Fort in the background. o The video was also launched in Goa, Bhopal, Chandigarh & Kolhapur. Gujarat govt to give ‘Namo’ tablets o Under a state govt scheme launched by CM Vijay Rupani, Around 3.5 lakh college students in Gujarat will get tablets at a subsidised rate of Rs 1,000. o Under this scheme, 1st year college students in the state will get 7-inch ‘NAMO E-Tab’ tablets by just paying Rs 1,000. Govt has allocated Rs 200 cr for this scheme. o NAMO E-Tab is acronym for ‘New Avenues of Modern Education through Tablets’. 33 | P a g e
Aajeevika Grameen Express Yojana o Govt has decided to launch a new sub-scheme named Aajeevika Grameen Express Yojana as part of Deendayal Antyodaya Yojana - National Rural Livelihoods Mission. o Self Help Groups under DAY-NRLM will operate road transport service in backward areas & will provide safe, affordable & community monitored rural transport. o AGEY will be initially implemented in 250 Blocks in the country on pilot basis Namami Gange Jagriti Yatra o Uttar Pradesh Govt has launched a new awareness drive called Namami Gange Jagriti Yatra. o The drive will be focusing on cleanliness along the banks of Ganga river and maintain hygiene. o The drive has been organised by Uttar Pradesh Homeguard volunteers and will help in spreading awareness in about 25 districts situated on the banks of river Ganga in the state. National Deworming Day o The second round of National Deworming Day is observed between 10th of August to 23rd August in 33 States and Union Territories to tackle worm Infections, targeting more than 11 crore children. o The program was launched in 2015. o In this drive, the children will be administered the chewable deworming tablet, Albendazole 400 mg tablet. Govt approves 10 Namami Gange projects o National Mission for Clean Ganga has approved 10 projects in Bihar, West Bengal & Uttar Pradesh worth Rs 2,033 crore. o 8 of these projects pertain to sewage infrastructure & treatment, one to river front development and another to Ganga Knowledge Centres. 34 | P a g e
o A project to establish Ganga Monitoring Centres in 5 riparian Ganga states has also been approved at an estimated cost of Rs 46.69 crore. Telangana launches Smart Streets Lab o To improve road safety, govt of Telangana in association with WRI India Ross Centre & ISB launched Smart Streets Lab programme. o It would focus on technological interventions from interconnected & inter networking smart devices to product innovation to make streets secure & easy to navigate o Govt aims to utilize technological interventions from outside & integrate them with various departments Online Registration for custodians o SEBI has introduced an online registration mechanism for custodians of securities to make it convenient for them to do business. o The new system will help custodian of securities to complete registration and other regulatory filings with Sebi much faster and in a cost-effective manner. o The new system has been made operational with immediate effect. Ban on non-biodegradable plastic bags o National Green Tribunal has imposed an interim ban on use of non- biodegradable plastic bags which are less than 50 microns in Delhi. o Bench headed by NGT chairperson Justice Swatanter Kumar announced an environment compensation of Rs5,000 on anyone found in possession of such banned plastic. o Earlier Tribunal had slammed Delhi govt over indiscriminate use of plastic despite its prohibition. NCERT portal for online books o MoS for HRD Upendra Kushwaha launched NCERT web portal for supply of textbooks to schools & individuals in Delhi.
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o It will ensure better distribution of textbooks across India & address concerns of schools & parents, regarding unavailability of textbooks. o The web service aims to ensure that no child is compelled to buy more expensive books for want of NCERT books. National Cyber Coordination Centre o 1st phase of National Cyber Coordination Centre, set up to detect cyber security threats has been made operational. o Govt has also made operational botnet & malware cleaning centre that will detect malicious software in devices of citizens & clean them. o NCCC scans internet traffic coming into the country to detect real-time cyber threat & alert various organisations for timely action. Kerala, Haryana top sanitation survey o According to a survey covering 4626 villages across the country by Quality Council of India, 62.4% of households had access to a toilet o 91.2% of people who had access to toilet also used it, indicating change in sanitation behaviour. o Sikkim, Manipur & Nagaland were top performers with 95% rural households covered by toilets. o UP & Bihar were the worst performers in terms of rural sanitation NITI Aayog partners with 6 states o NITI Aayog has announced partnership with 3 States each to radically transform their Health & Education sectors. o NITI Aayog has shortlisted UP, Assam & Karnataka under its Sustainable Action for Transforming Human Capital initiative to transform their health sector. o MP, Jharkhand & Odisha have also been selected by NITI Aayog under its SATH initiative to transform their education sector. Centre launches Swachh Survekshan Gramin
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o Centre has launched Swachh Survekshan Gramin to encourage states and districts to improve sanitation coverage and solid liquid waste management. o All districts of the country will be ranked under the Swachh Survekshan Gramin on the basis of performance, sustainability and transparency. o So far, 4,600 villages and 1.4 lakh households have been covered under Swachh Sarvekshan (Gramin) Survey. Maharashtra to raise $270 million o 2030 Water Resources Group will help Maharashtra Govt raise $270mn from Green Climate Fund o Funds will be invested in integrated watershed programmes such as Jalyukt Shivar Yojana o Approvals for raising money will take place in 2018 & could take a year to get the funding o WRG along with Mah. Govt launched Water Resources Multi-Stakeholder Platform to address critical water resources challenges Aug 15 to be celebrated as Sankalp Parva o Centre has decided to observe this Independence Day as ‘Sankalp Parva’ and asked the people to dedicate themselves to social causes. o As India will complete 75 years as an independent nation in 2022, 5 year period from 2017-2022, gives citizens an unique opportunity of ‘Sankalp’ to ‘Siddhi’ towards a new India. o Nation would also be observing 75th anniversary of Quit India Movement this year. Centre declares Assam as disturbed area o Centre has declared entire Assam as a “disturbed” area under controversial Armed Forces (Special Powers) Act for 1 more month. o Govt has cited various violent activities by insurgent groups ULFA, NDFB, and others for extending AFSPA. 37 | P a g e
o 20 km belt in Meghalaya bordering Assam will also continue to be a “disturbed area” under the AFSPA. o AFSPA has been continuing in Assam since November 1990. GST Council clears e-way Bill o GST Council has given an in-principle approval to e-way bill, to keep tabs on the movement of goods. o Once the e-way bill is implemented, all goods and services worth Rs 50,000 or more would need to be registered before these are moved 10 km for sale. o There would be very few check posts to ensure the smooth transport of goods. These rules would not be applicable for exempted goods. SUVs, luxury cars to cost more o GST Council has approved a proposal to hike cess on SUVs, mid-sized, large & luxury cars from 15% to 25%. o While all cars attract a peak GST rate of 28%, large motor vehicles, SUVs, mid-segment, large, hybrid cars and hybrid motor vehicles attract a cess of 15% on top of it. o Cess collected on cars as also tobacco & coal will be used to compensate the revenue loss of states by implementing GST Govt merges NCRB with BPRD o National Crime Records Bureau has been merged with another central police organisation the BPRD by the govt. o Merger aims to improve efficiency of development works related to policing. It will also boost crime data collection & research efforts of the two organisations. o BPRD Director General will head the merged new entity, NCRB Director, an Additional DG rank post will report to the former. Green Airports in Andhra Pradesh
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o As part of the Green airports initiative taken by Ministry of Civil Aviation, 2 airports in Andhra Pradesh are soon going to turn into Green Airports. o Installation of 1 Mega Watt solar power plant at Tirupati and Vijayawada airports has commenced. o Earlier, the Cochin International Airport Limited became the first airport in the world, to be completely powered by solar energy. Motorbike ambulance service launched o Maharashtra govt has launched a motorbike ambulance service to provide swift medical assistance to patients. o Ambulance will be available through `108' helpline, have teams of paramedics providing treatment, especially in places inaccessible to larger ambulances, to patients during the golden hour. o Royal Enfield motorbikes have been converted into ambulances with emergency medical equipment Indian Railways signs first EPC o Indian Railways signed its first Engineering, Procurement & Construction contract with L&T for large electrification projects. o Contract valuing Rs 1,050 cr for electrification of 781 RKM was awarded by Central Organisation for Railway Electrification & Konkan Railways. o Contracts were awarded to speed up electrification of railway lines under ‘Mission Electrification’ plan. Centre proposes to set up 14 new AIIMS o Govt proposes to establish additional 14 new AIIMS under various phases of Pradhan Mantri Swasthya Suraksha Yojana in different parts of country. o AIIMS in Bhubaneswar, Jodhpur & Raipur have been almost operational & are receiving patients not only from states but also from neighbouring regions.
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o Govt is also working on enhancing capacity of Delhi's medical institutes by adding 1,563 new beds. Measles-rubella vaccination campaign o Govt has launched Measles-Rubella vaccination campaign in a phased manner for across the country to reduce measles morbidity and mortality. o The MR vaccination campaign will cover children in the age group of 9 months to less than 15 years. o Campaign started in February 2017 from five states and UTs and has covered about 3.33 crores children have been vaccinated during this campaign. Lok Sabha passes Banking Regulation Bill o Banking Regulation (Amendment) Bill 2017, which was promulgated in May, was passed in Lok Sabha. o It will replace Banking Regulation Act 1949, giving govt power to authorise RBI to issue directions to banks to initiate insolvency resolution in case of a default. o Bill empowers RBI to issue directives for resolution & appoint authorities to advise banking companies on stressed asset resolution. Govt ends 10-yr pact with GVK-EMRI o Department of Health & Family Welfare has terminated its 10-year contract with GVK-EMRI which provides emergency response service 108 Arogya Kavacha. o Decision was taken citing certain shortcomings of GVK-EMRI group such as delay in providing services, shortage in manpower & not addressing employees’ grievances. o Govt had entered into an agreement with GVK-EMRI in 2008 which was to end in 2018 Aadhaar-authenticated DBT portal
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o Maharashtra has launched MahaDBT portal, through which benefits of all govt schemes will be transferred directly into bank accounts of beneficiaries in the state. o It has been designed on lines of central govt's DBT scheme, Aadhaar will become mandatory to claim benefits through the portal, o Maharashtra is the 1st state to launch this system to give direct benefits with Aadhaar authentication Govt inks MoA to set up IRRI o Agriculture Ministry has signed a MoA for setting up a regional centre of global rice research institute IRRI in Varanasi, to develop high- yielding rice varieties. o This will be 1st international centre in eastern India & will play a major role in sustaining rice production in the region. o IRRI is known for its work in developing rice varieties that contributed to green revolution in 1960s. Lok Sabha passes NABARD (Amendment) Bill o Lok Sabha has passed NABARD (Amendment) Bill, 2017 by voice vote that seeks to amend National Bank for Agriculture and Rural Development Act, 1981. o Bill allows central govt to increase authorise capital of Bank from Rs. 5,000 cr to Rs.30,000 cr. o NABARD is responsible for providing & regulating facilities like credit for agricultural & industrial development in rural areas. Scheme to boost farm start-ups o Govt is launching a new AGRI-UDAAN programme that will mentor startups & help them connect with potential investors. o It will be managed by Indian Council of Agricultural Research & will help convert innovative ideas from India’s rural youth into viable businesses.
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o Under the programme, start-ups will get incubation space to run their businesses and access to research laboratories & libraries. LS passes 2 bills extending CGST, IGST o Lok Sabha has passed 2 bills extending Central GST and Integrated GST to Jammu and Kashmir. o The step will ensure greater economic integration of the state with rest of the country. o It aimed at giving effect to the formal amendments required in Central GST and Integrated GST Acts by removing the exemption that was carved out for J&K. o Jammu & Kashmir was the last state to pass GST. CCEA approves rail connectivity projects o The Cabinet Committee on Economic Affairs has approved three railway connectivity projects worth Rs3,940 crore in Tamil Nadu and Kerala. o These projects would not only speed up the operation of goods and passenger trains, but also provide additional capacity for meeting increases in traffic in the future. o All the three projects are expected to be completed by the year 2020-2021. Cash-on-delivery for tatkal tickets o Railways has announced that people can now book their ticket under the tatkal quota on IRCTC website & can pay later. o For tatkal tickets IRCTC users will be able to pay via cash, debit card or credit card by opting to have tickets delivered at their doorstep. o The new feature eliminates transaction failures as often the money gets debited and the ticket is not issued due to multiple reasons. Indian Army develops app for soldiers o Indian Army has developed a mobile application through which serving soldiers can track details like postings & promotions.
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o Through the app named Humraaz, soldiers can view their monthly salary slips & Form 16 and also download them. o For security reasons, the installation of the application has been linked to verification of Aadhar details. o The app has been developed in-house by the Army. Cabinet clears proxy voting for NRIs o Cabinet has cleared a proposal to extend proxy voting to overseas Indians by amending electoral laws. o While NRIs & overseas Indians are free to cast their votes in their constituencies, the proposal would allow them to use proxy which was only available to service personnel. o 16m NRIs will be able to vote in elections by appointing proxies residing in their constituencies to cast their votes. Scrapping of no detention policy o Cabinet has approved scrapping of no-detention policy in schools till Class 8. o Policy was introduced under RTE 2009 according to which schools were not allowed to fail or expel a student up to Class 8. o It will now allow states to detain students in class V & class VIII if they fail in the year-end exam. o States will have to give them a 2nd chance before stopping their promotion to next class Modi to inaugurate 'Rajaswa Gyansangam' o Prime Minister Modi will inaugurate 2 day 'Rajaswa Gyansangam' on September 1, during which central & state tax officers will brainstorm on major issues. o To be held in New Delhi, focus of the discussion will be on GST as well as on unearthing black money
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o This will be for the first time that the tax officers of state governments will also be invited for discussion on the GST related issues. RBI cuts repo rate by 25 bps o The Monetary Policy Committee of the Reserve Bank of India slashed the short-term lending rate, or repo rate, by 25 basis points to 6%, the lowest in more than six-and-a-half years, at its third bimonthly policy review. o RBI's move comes on the back of inflation running well below its target for consecutive quarters. o Reverse repo rate was also reduced by 25 basis points to 5.75% from 6%. Jharkhand clears bill to ban conversions o Jharkhand cabinet has approved draft of a bill that will ban religious conversion by force or allurement. o It aims for tougher action on forced conversions of minor girls & women from scheduled tribes. o Anyone found violating it will be liable for 3 years' imprisonment or Rs 50,000 fine or both. o The law already exists in MP, Chhattisgarh, Odisha, Gujarat, Maharashtra & Himachal Pradesh. Govt launches portal e-RaKAM o Govt has launched a portal e-Rashtriya Kisan Agri Mandi which will provide a platform to sell agricultural produce. o It is developed by MSTC Limited & supported by marketing & logistics partner CRWC Limited. o E-RaKAM is a first-of-its-kind initiative that leverages technology to connect farmers of the smallest villages to the biggest markets of the world through internet and e-RaKAM centres. Government to end LPG subsidy
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o Govt has ordered state-run oil companies to raise subsidised cooking gas, LPG, prices by Rs.4 per cylinder every month to eliminate all subsidies by March next year. o It will be in effect till the reduction of govt subsidy to 'nil', or till March next year, whichever is earliest. o Every household is entitled to 12 cylinders of 14.2-kg each at subsidised rates in a year. RBI plans to extend cyber audit o RBI is planning to conduct a cyber-audit of all banks in the country instead of just a few bigger banks as it did in the past. o Banks which do not have security measures in place as per the RBI standards will be given time to comply, failing which the regulator may initiate action. o RBI is also expected to do a gap analysis on the basis of the reports and ask banks to bridge the gaps. SC bans use of 5 metals in firecrackers o Supreme Court has imposed a ban on use of 5 harmful metals in firecrackers as they cause enormous air pollution. o A bench headed by Justice Madan B Lokur prohibited use of lithium, mercury, arsenic, antimony, lead metals which are used in manufacturing of firecrackers. o Court have also asked CPCB & PESO to setup standards regarding air pollution caused by bursting of fire-crackers. Swachh Survekshan launched o Minister of Housing and Urban Affairs Narendra Singh Tomar launched Swachh Survekshan-2018 in New Delhi. o The third in the series Survekshan will rank all 4,041 cities & towns of India based on infrastructure development for improved sanitation services & their sustainability, outcomes. 45 | P a g e
o It will assess sanitation levels in all cities & towns impacting the lives of about 40 crore urban people.
Business & Economy
Govt defers BSNL stake sale o The govt has deferred a decision on selling a stake in BSNL amid turmoil in the telecom sector triggered by Reliance Jio’s entry. o The firm has lost about $7bn in last 8 years, making it country’s biggest loss-making state-run company after Air India. o Once India’s largest telecoms company, the number of BSNL landline subscribers has fallen by 8 million in the last five years to 25 million. Ola partners with Indus OS o Homegrown smartphone operating system company Indus OS has partnered Ola to integrate the latter’s cab aggregator app on its platform. o The move will provide Ola access to over 8 million users of Indus OS across handset brands like Micromax, Intex and Karbonn. o Integration will also make Ola available in English and 12 regional languages. Genomeceuticals Products in India o Unicity has launched world's 1st ever Genomeceutical (gene controlling) range of products to India o Genomeceutical is a ground-breaking technology whereby certain secondary metabolites found in nature can help maintain gene response whenever needed by the body & help maintain overall metabolic health o Unicity is currently researching an extensive range of products by leveraging this technology Google commits $1 million
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o Lending a helping hand in flood relief operations in India, Nepal & Bangladesh, Google has committed $1 million to NGOs Goonj & Save the Children. o Apart from offering funds to NGOs, Google’s crisis response team has also activated SOS alerts in the 3 countries. o These alerts include latest news about floods, an approximate map of affected area & local updates from Twitter and other resources PNB cuts MCLR, base rate o Punjab National Bank has cut marginal cost based lending rates by up to 0.25% for select maturities o MCLR, which is changed every month is a uniform methodology which was introduced to ensure fair interest rates to borrowers as well as banks o The bank has also slashed its base rate by 0.20% to 9.15% o Majority of banks follow base rate or minimum lending rate formula to charge interest on loans Government notifies e-way bill o Govt has notified e-way bill keeping some items of mass consumption such as vegetables, fruits, food grains, bread, books & jewellery out of its ambit o It will provide the framework for transport of goods under the GST o E-way bill is required to transport any item worth more than Rs 50,000 within the country o E-way bill can be generated by registered supplier or recipient or the transporter Scheduled bank status from RBI o Ujjivan Small Finance Bank, a subsidiary of Ujjivan Financial Services has been given scheduled bank status by RBI. o It opens the door for issuing Certificate of Deposits, which will be an important source of funding.
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o This status will enhance market acceptability of the bank in its effort to garner institutional deposits at a competitive price & participate more actively in inter-bank market. NDB approves $1.4 bn loan o Ahead of the BRICS summit, New Development Bank approved $1.4 billion loans for sustainable development projects in China, India & Russia. o For India, Bank has approved $470 million loan for Madhya Pradesh's Multi-Village Rural Drinking Water Supply Scheme Project. o Board of Directors of the Bank have approved four infrastructure and sustainable development projects in the three countries. 99% of demonetised notes back o RBI has revealed in its annual report that Rs 15.28 lakh crore, or 99% of the Rs 15.44-lakh-crore scrapped currency notes, had come back to central bank b/w demonetisation decision & June 30, 2017. o About 89 million units of the demonetised Rs 1,000 notes worth Rs 8,900 cr had not come back into the system. o Share of the newly introduced Rs 2,000 notes at March-end was a little more than 50%. CHOICE launches ‘PoS’ product o Canara HSBC Oriental Bank of Commerce Life Insurance Company (CHOICE) has come up with a ‘Point-of-Sale’ product targeted at the mass-market segment. o The product ‘PoS - Easy Bima Plan’ is the first PoS product for the company and is a pure term insurance plan. o It not only gives life cover but also returns all premiums paid during the payment term on survival till maturity. Freyr Energy ties up with Axis Bank
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o Solar energy services company Freyr Energy has tied up with Axis Bank to offer term loans for solar rooftop installations in Telangana and Andhra Pradesh. o Axis Bank will offer term loans ranging from ₹5 lakh to ₹50 lakh for tenures up to five years. o The loans will be given to MSMEs and self-employed individuals to install Freyr rooftop solar plants for industrial and commercial purposes. YouTube changes its logo o Google-owned YouTube has refreshed its iconic logo, Unlike minor tweaks, this is the biggest change the YouTube logo has received over the years. o It is for the first time that YouTube has changed its logo after it was launched 12 years ago. o Google says the change allows the YouTube logo to work better "across a variety of devices, even on smallest of screens". NTPC signs Rs 3,000 crore term loan o NTPC has signed a term loan agreement for Rs 3,000 crore with ICICI Bank for partially funding its capital expenditure. o The loan which has a door-to-door tenure of 15 years will be utilised to part finance the capital expenditure of NTPC. o NTPC commissioned 3,845 mw capacity and added 2,190 mw to its commercial capacity during 2016-17. Free insurance for drivers in India o Global ride-hailing firm Uber Technologies will give free insurance to its 450,000 driver partners in India o Insurance will will cover death, disability or hospitalization in case of an accident while using the Uber App
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o For this insurance programme Uber has tied up with ICICI Lombard, it will provide cover ranging from Rs. 5 lakhs in case of death to Rs. 50,000 rupees for outpatient treatment GST earnings cross target o India's maiden GST collections hit Rs 92,283 crore in July, surpassing the target. o The tax mobilisation so far is from 64.4% of the 59.57 lakh taxpayers registered with the new Goods and Services Tax and the number is likely to go up. o Of the tax collected, Rs 14,894 crore have come in as Central GST, Rs 22,722 crore as State GST and Rs 47,469 crore as Integrated GST. Paytm rebrands Postcard service o Paytm has rebranded its Postcard feature as Lifafa following its feud with India Post. o This comes soon after India Post (government-operated postal system) sent a notice to Paytm that it had the sole right to use the word ‘postcard’ under the IPO Act. o Lifafa is a digital version of gifting money on festive occasions. o It follows Chinese tradition of gifting money in red envelopes (hongbao). FDI consolidated policy includes startup o India unveiled a new FDI policy framework that for the first time comprises provisions specific to startups. o The policy lists startups as a separate section and spells out provisions that allow them to raise foreign money from venture capital funds. o Startups will have to take requisite govt approval in sectors where FDI is not under automatic route to issue convertible notes. Twitter launches education programme o Twitter has launched a media agency programme named #TweetToTheTop, dedicated to young media executives. 50 | P a g e
o 11 agencies from global media & advertising networks would participate in the initiative in 5 nations of Asia Pacific - India, Singapore, Indonesia, Philippines & Australia. o Media professionals will get exclusive access to Twitter's arsenal of solutions & global advertising tech leaders. First derivatives contract in diamonds o Anil Ambani Group-anchored Indian Commodity Exchange has become the world's 1st derivatives exchange to launch diamond futures contract. o The diamond contracts initially will be in size of 1 carat with compulsory delivery. o It likely to create a new market for diamond industry players where sellers can deliver their certified quality diamonds to different set of buyers from across the country. Uber introduces 2 new features o Ridesharing app Uber has announced a phased rollout of two new features, namely ‘In-app chat’ and ‘multi-destination’. o The in-app chat feature aims to help riders and driver partners get in touch with one another to provide information such as their exact location. o The multi-destination feature enables riders to add multiple stops along their route. Partnership to fight cyber wars o Bharti Airtel has entered into a partnership with Symantec Corporation to protect businesses in India from online threats. o Through the partnership, the 2 companies will target IT security requirements of large enterprises, small & medium businesses, as well as the govt. o Partnership comes amid a spike in cyber attacks over the past few months, including ransomware such as Petya & WannaCry. India bans sodium nitrite from China 51 | P a g e
o The Finance Ministry has imposed a five year anti-dumping duty on Sodium Nitrite imports from China. o It was imposed based on recommendations of Directorate General of Antidumping and Allied Duties. o Sodium Nitrite is an oxidising and also a reducing agent. It is a white crystalline powder mostly used in the pharmaceutical and dye industries. IRDAI launches central database o Insuranace Regulatory & Development Authority of India has launched a Central Database of all Insurance Sales Persons in the country. o Envoy, the database will ensure that all licensed insurance sales persons working for insurers & intermediaries do not work with multiple insurers & intermediaries in same business category. o The Insurance Information Bureau of India hosts the central database. 100 villages for digital banking o Vijaya Bank has launched ‘100 Digital Villages’ initiative in an effort to bring residents of these villages under the formal banking system. o The 100 villages were chosen from among 15 states across the country. o Through its initiative, the bank has now reached out to more than 2.35 lakh customers, all of whom will have access to digital banking through debit cards. Changes in Banking Regulation Act o The govt has notified Banking Regulation (Amendment) Act under which it can authorise the RBI to issue directions to banks to initiate insolvency resolution process to recover bad loans. o Under the Banking Regulation Act, 2017, RBI can issue directions to banks for resolution of stressed assets. o RBI can also specify authorities or committees to advise banks on resolution of stressed assets. 50 new green-fuel stations in 3 years 52 | P a g e
o Gurugram district administration has decided to sanction 50 new green- fuel stations in Millennium City in next 3 years to control rising air pollution. o The initiative has been taken after considering that the city has several factories & industries. o The Haryana City Gas Distribution, an authorised dealer to sell CNG in Gurgaon, has been given the responsibility to construct the 50 stations. EESL to procure 50 lakh Smart Meters o A Pre-Bid Meeting was held by EESL for procurement of 50 lakh smart meters. o EESL will be making the entire upfront investment as well as maintain the whole infrastructure for next 10 years. o Smart Meters are being procured for Smart Grid projects in Haryana & UP. o These meters would help in reducing Commercial losses, power theft and also help in monitoring of round the clock power supply. Spice Digital gets RBI licence o Spice Digital Limited has received the final licence from the RBI, allowing the company to process bill payments as a Bharat Bill Payment Operating Unit. o It may be recalled that SDL's Spice Money had in May last year received an in-principle approval to set up a BBPOU under the Payment and Settlement Systems Act 2007. o BBPS is a RBI conceptualised system driven by NPCI. Panel on National Mineral Policy o The National Mineral Policy, 2008 should be reviewed is mandatory and the panel suggest a new framework will submit its report by October end. o The order from Supreme Court in its judgement dated Aug 2, 2017 directed the govt to revisit the National Mineral Policy 2008. 53 | P a g e
o The 29-member panel has headed by Mines Additional Secretary K Rajeswara Rao. Google expands Public Wi-Fi o Google is launching its public Wi-Fi program, which offers free connectivity at railway stations and other locations such as universities, in Indonesia. o The Indonesia launch is the first expansion of ‘Google Station’ since it debuted in India 18 months ago. o In addition, Google also expanded its data-friendly YouTube Go app, which was previously only available in India, to Indonesia. Link Home Loans To Repo Rates o A Reserve Bank of India appointed committee on Household Finance has suggested that banks link their home loan rates to the RBI's repo rate. o This will allow for better and more transparent transmission of interest rates in the economy to individuals. o The current system impedes monetary transmission mechanism and does not allow borrowers to immediately benefit from interest rate drops. GIC to acquire stake in DLF rental arm o In the biggest FDI deal ever in India's real estate space, Singapore sovereign wealth fund GIC has agreed to acquire 33.34% stake in DLF Cyber City Developers for $1.39 bn. o In addition, DCCDL will also buy back Rs 3,000 cr of preference shares held by promoters in 2 instalments. o DLF’s net debt is close to ₹26,000 cr, hence the deal come as a boost in the arm for its deleveraging plans. Biz week in India o Australian minister for trade, tourism and investment Steven Ciobo will lead a major mission to India focused on deepening collaboration between the two nations. 54 | P a g e
o During the week-long event more than 50 business events will take place across six cities in India. o India is Australia’s ninth largest partner with two-way trade and services of A$20.7 billion and its fifth-largest export market. Govt restricts import of gold, silver o Govt has restricted imports of gold & silver items from South Korea in a bid to check spurt in inbound shipments of precious metals. o Restrictions are being imposed against backdrop of sudden surge in imports of precious metal from South Korea, with which India has a free trade agreement. o Importers will now have to obtain a license from DGFT for importing gold & silver from South Korea. NSE to enable bulk trades reporting o National Stock Exchange has decided to facilitate its electronic platform ENIT for faster processing and online reporting by brokers to the bourse related to bulk and block trades. o So far, the requests for bulk/block disclosure changes were accepted through fax or email. o ENIT provides a two way mechanism for exchange of information for various processes between the trading members & NSE. Tie up for bancassurance o DHFL Pramerica Life Insurance Company has tied up with Dhanlaxmi Bank for distribution of its portfolio of retail & group life insurance products. o As per the agreement, Dhanlaxmi Bank would become the corporate agent of DPLI & make life insurance products more accessible to its customers. o With this tie-up, DPLI is in a strong position to consolidate its presence in the states of South India. Closure of loss-making Bharat Wagon 55 | P a g e
o Cabinet Committee on Economic Affairs has approved closure of loss- making Bharat Wagon & Engineering Company o BWEL is Central Public Sector Enterprise under Ministry of Railways o Govt will have to provide one-time grant of ₹151.18 cr towards severance package & for clearing current liabilities o Employees of BWEL will be benefited from voluntary retirement scheme to be offered at 2007 pay scale HDFC Ergo merges L&T insurance biz o HDFC ERGO General Insurance has completed the merger of HDFC General Insurance (formerly L&T General Insurance) with itself. o This is the first amalgamation in the non-life sector and consolidates HDFC Ergo's position as the third-largest private insurer. o The market share of the merged entity is 4.9% while the net worth of the merged entity as on March 31, 2017, is Rs 1,485 crore. Airbnb partners with Jet Airways o Airbnb has announced its 1st airline partnership in India with Jet Airways. o With this partnership, Airbnb aims to tap into the Indian market by focusing on establishing a deeper connection with new age Indian travelers who seek unique travel experiences. o Airbnb is an online marketplace & hospitality service, enabling people to lease or rent short-term lodging. AAI ties up with Ola, Uber o Airports Authority of India has entered into strategic alliances with Ola and Uber that will provide passengers the option to hire these cabs at selected aerodromes. o This alliance shall also facilitate air passengers to book a cab through the booking kiosks located at the airport itself. o It aims to ensure hassle-free commuting & offer better services to air travelers in the country. 56 | P a g e
Bank Of India slashes interest o Bank of India has reduced interest rate on savings bank accounts by 50 basis points to 3.5% on deposits of up to Rs 50 lakh. o However, the bank will continue to pay 4 per cent interest on deposits of above Rs 50 lakh. o On 31 July, SBI slashed interest rate on savings account deposits to 3.5%, a similar trend was followed by several public and private sectors lenders. Google partners with Walmart o Google & Walmart has announced a partnership that will make Walmart's products available on Google's online shopping mall. o Walmart will work with Google to offer hundreds of thousands of items for voice shopping via Google Assistant. o It’s the first time Walmart has made its products online in US outside of its own website. o The service will compete with Amazon's Alexa voice-shopping platform Govt notifies Rs 200 currency notes o Finance Ministry has formally announced the launch of the new Rs 200 note. The new notes are expected to come into circulation from next month. o This will be the first ever new note to be introduced by RBI after Rs 500 & Rs 2,000 notes introduced post massive currency culling exercise in Nov last year. o Rs 200 notes will help bridge the gap between Rs 100 and Rs 500 notes. First to implement Bharat QR o Andhra Pradesh’s EPDCL & SPDCL have become the 1st state-owned distribution companies in India to accept payments through Bharat QR. o Bharat QR is a secure, network-agnostic interface that enables customers to use their smartphones to make payments without divulging information like card no. & CVV. 57 | P a g e
o Bharat QR is world’s 1st interoperable quick response code acceptance solution launched by RBI. Microsoft launches 'Project Brainwave' o Microsoft has announced its Project Brainwave deep learning acceleration platform for real-time artificial intelligence. o The 'Project Brainwave' uses the massive field-programmable gate array infrastructure that Microsoft has been deploying over the past few years. o It can handle complex, memory-intensive models such as Long Short Term Memories, without using batching to juice throughput. Kuvera ties up with Uber o Kuvera, a wealth management platform, has partnered with Uber to offer investment products & financial planning services to Uber’s driver partners. o Through the partnership, Uber drivers will get access to investment schemes and advisory services on Kuvera. o Kuvera lists “direct only” mutual fund plans, allowing its users to create and monitor their portfolio on the platform. Out of top 10 most valued companies o Infosys, India’s 2nd largest software services firm, lost its place in the list of country’s 10 most valued companies in terms of market capitalization. o Fall in market capitalization comes after its CEO & MD Vishal Sikka resigned. o Standing at a market cap of Rs2 trillion, Infosys now ranks at 11th position & has been replaced in top 10 by IOC. o Reliance Industries is the most valued company. All-in-one DigiPoS machines o HDFC Bank has launched an all-in-one offering DigiPoS Machine, that offers a complete suite of digital payment solutions
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o With DigiPoS, a merchant can use as many as 12 digital payment options like UPI, in addition, to pay through debit/credit card swiping o It will integrate popular digital payment methods in merchant payment machines offering greater convenience to both customers & merchants Interline partnership with Vistara o Qatar Airways has entered into an interline partnership with Vistara, under which customers of 2 carriers will have seamless travel to & from India to over 150 destinations. o Interline arrangement refers to a pact to issue & accept tickets for flights that are operated by partner airline. o Qatar Airways operates to 13 cities in India from Doha while Vistara operates to 18 domestic destinations Centre of Battery Engineering at IIT o Ashok Leyland and Indian Institute of Technology Madras have signed a Memorandum of Understanding to set up a Centre of Battery Engineering at IIT Madras. o The objective of this MOU is to promote R&D activities for strengthening battery engineering and related sub-parts, especially for electric vehicles. o Ashok Leyland will provide a funding of Rs 1.5 cr over a 5-year period to this centre. Lakshmi Vilas Bank ropes in McKinsey o Lakshmi Vilas Bank has roped in McKinsey for consultation on strengthening & reorganising MSME business, especially in southern region. o Bank has chalked out a strategy to revamp its MSME business in an effort to double its book to Rs10,000 cr by 2020. o Aim of the exercise is to gain market share & better connect with clients not only for funding requirement but also offer other solutions. ONGC board approves HPCL takeover 59 | P a g e
o The board of ONGC has given 'in-principle' approval to acquire the government's 51.11% stake in Hindustan Petroleum Corporation. o HPCL will become a subsidiary of ONGC and will remain a listed company post the acquisition. o HPCL will add 23.8 million tonnes of annual oil refining capacity to ONGC's portfolio, making it the third-largest refiner in the country after IOC and Reliance Industries. Uber in pact with Axis, HDFC Bank o Cab hailing firm Uber has tied up with Axis Bank & HDFC Bank for Unified Payments Interface based payments. o Apart from payments via credit/debit cards, cash & Paytm, this will be another payment option available to customers. o UPI is a payment system launched by NPCI which facilitates instant fund transfer b/w 2 bank accounts on mobile platform. o Ola had incorporated UPI this year in April. Distribution of Apple products in India o HCL Infosystems has announced that it has signed a distributor agreement with Apple for iPhones and other products in India. o Currently, Apple products are being distributed by Beetel Teletech, Rashi Peripherals Redington, and Ingram Micro. o Currently, Apple has three percent market share by volume and 11 percent share by value in the country. Dena Bank cuts savings rate o Dena Bank has cut interest rate on savings account deposits up to Rs 25 lakh by 0.5% to 3.50% o Those having deposits over Rs 25 lakh in their savings bank accounts will continue to get existing interest of 4% o For deposits above Rs 25 lakh, interest rate will remain unchanged at 4%
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o With this, Dena Bank has joined a host of peer banks after SBI started paying less on certain savings deposits Banks to pay 3% IGST on gold imports o Banks importing gold and precious metals will have to pay 3% tax under the GST which can be claimed as input tax credit. o Banks did not pay any VAT on import of precious metals previously. They only paid customs duty. o Import of gold attracts a 10% basic customs duty. On top of that a 12.5 % countervailing duty was levied prior to GST. o IGST paid can be taken as input tax credit by the banks. Government extends cash back scheme o Govt has extended the cash back scheme, that offers incentives of up to Rs 1,000 to merchants for accepting payments through BHIM app to 31 March. o Under the scheme, a merchant can get cash back of Rs 50 for 20-50 transaction, Rs 2 for every transaction thereafter till Rs 950. o Scheme was launched by PM Modi on 14 April for a period of 6 months for promoting cashless payments through BHIM app. SBI tops share of wilful default o Country’s largest lender, SBI accounts for over 27% of total amount owed to public-sector banks by wilful defaulters o As many as 1,762 wilful defaulters owed SBI ₹25,104 cr as on March 31 o PNB is next on the list with 1,120 wilful defaulters having outstanding NPAs of ₹12,278 cr o According to Finance Ministry data, total outstanding loans due to PSB by wilful defaulters amounted to ₹92,376 cr First Shipment of American crude o 1st shipment of American crude oil worth $100mn will reach India next month. 61 | P a g e
o Shipment of crude oil to India comes nearly 2 years after the then US president Barack Obama lifted the 40-year- old ban on its export. o With this India joins Asian countries like South Korea, Japan & China to buy American crude after production cuts by OPEC. o IOC & BPCL have placed orders for over 4 million barrels. First regional centre of NDB o 1st regional centre of New Development Bank was officially opened in Johannesburg, South Africa. o NDB formerly referred to as BRICS Development Bank, is a multilateral development bank established by BRICS states with an initial authorised capital of $100 bn. o It will help in promoting sustainable development through integration, industrialisation & infrastructure development on the continent. Google to launch Android O o Google will be unveiling latest Android operating system, Android O through a livestreaming event from New York City. o Google hasn’t officially disclosed what the “O” in “Android O” stands for, while many believe it could be Oreo. o Android O will be Google's Android version 8.0 after Android Nougat. o Android O is currently on its fourth developer preview, having originally launched in March. Goa govt launches biofuel-run buses o Goa govt has launched 3 biofuel-powered buses on a pilot basis. o The project is a part of the state govt's comprehensive mobility plan announced in the recent budget. o The bus will be operated by Kadamba Transport Corporation Limited (KTCL), a state-run body. o The ticketing would be done through automated system, bus will have swiping machines. One can enter the bus after swiping the card. 62 | P a g e
Power Grid inks loan pact with ADB o Power Grid has entered into a loan agreement with Asian Development Bank for an amount of $500 million for its various projects. o The proceeds of the loan are proposed to be utilised for funding of Green Energy Corridor (Part D). o Power Grid is an Indian state-owned electric utilities company that transmits about 50% of the total power generated in India on its transmission network. Axis Bank to waive 12 EMIs on home loans o Axis Bank will waive 12 EMIs on regular repayments of loans of up to Rs 30 lakh under the new scheme Shubh Aarambh Home Loans. o Axis has introduced Shubh Aarambh Home Loans, in which 12 EMIs are waived - 4 EMIs each after 4th, 8th & 12th year from date of first disbursement. o Loans can be used to purchase an under-construction/ready/resale house, self-construction & a plot plus construction. Reliance Defence to be renamed o Reliance Infra controlled Reliance Defence & Engineering is changing its name to Reliance Naval & Engineering Ltd. o Change of name is in line with company’s focus on building capabilities for Indian Navy & the Coast Guard. o After Reliance Group acquired a controlling stake in Pipavav Defence & Offshore Engineering in 2016, it changed the name of the company to Reliance Defence & Engineering. ICICI Bank cut interest rate o ICICI Bank has announced to reduce interest rate on savings accounts by 50 basis points to 3.5% on deposits below Rs 50 lakh. o The interest rate on savings bank accounts with deposits of Rs 50 lakh and above remains unchanged at 4%. 63 | P a g e
o Several other lenders including, HDFC Bank, Bank of Baroda, Punjab National Bank and Axis Bank have also revised their interest rate on savings bank accounts. SBI planning IPOs of two RRBs o SBI is planning initial public offerings of 2 regional rural banks in next one year, the first such move by a public sector bank. o SBI is preparing the ground to list Andhra Pradesh Grameena Vikas Bank & Saurashtra Gramin Bank to create value & increase efficiency. o RRBs were set up in 1975 with a view to develop rural economy & create a supplementary channel to cooperative credit structure. Instamojo raises funds o On-demand payments platform for small & medium businesses Instamojo has raised an undisclosed amount in pre-series B funding from AnyPay. o The funding marks AnyPay’s foray into the Indian investment market. o Instamojo aims to extend its wallet share to 70% by 2019 & grow its merchant base by 400% in 2018. o Instamojo enables over 3,00,000 SMEs to build, manage & grow their business online. BSNL launches mobile wallet o BSNL has unveiled its mobile wallet in partnership with MobiKwik to enable one-tap bill payment for its over 100 million subscribers. o With over 1.5 million merchants on the network, this is India’s largest wallet by any telecom company. o The app will allow users to pay for online recharges, make bill payments, shop and book bus and train tickets. KVB inaugurates AADHAAR enrolment centre o Karur Vysya Bank has unveiled Aadhaar Enrolment Centre following UIDAI’s directive last month
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o It is the first private sector bank to provide this service, Bank has planned to expand the service to 75 more branches across India o Customers need to bring in the approved documents as proof of residence & identity, process of enrolment or updating the details in AADHAAR can be completed in 15 mins First power utility to use QR code o Tata Power has become first power utility to introduce a QR code based bill payments system in India. o QR code linked to UPI will be printed on electricity bills & the customers can scan the QR code with BHIM app or any other UPI linked bank app and pay their bills without any hassle. o All bill details will be auto captured while scanning the QR code and the consumer can pay on his smartphone. Long Term Irrigation Fund approved o The Cabinet on Wednesday gave its approval for raising Extra Budgetary Resources of upto Rs 9020 crore during the financial year 2017-18. o The funds will be raised by NABARD through the issuance of Bonds at 6% per annum as per requirement. o The LTIF will be for the implementation of Accelerated Irrigation Benefits Programme works of 99 ongoing prioritised irrigation projects. Instant credit cards o City Union Bank is going to offer instant credit cards and customers can generate a credit card online. o The bank introduced the option of an “instant credit card” for free for its Net banking customers. o CUB has tied-up with MasterCard for the instant credit card. YES Bank cuts savings a/c interest rate o Yes Bank has reduced interest rate on savings bank accounts by 1% to 5% for deposits of less than Rs 1 lakh. 65 | P a g e
o However, bank will continue to pay 6% interest on deposits of over Rs 1 lakh & less than Rs 1 crore. o Bank has also slashed interest rate on savings accounts to 6.25% from existing 6.5% for deposits over Rs 1 crore. o Yes Bank is the 5th lender to reduce saving account interest rate. Dhoni to set up cricket academy in Dubai o Mahendra Singh Dhoni has announced that he’ll be setting up a coaching academy in Dubai Pacific Sports Club in UAE. o Dhoni has teamed up with Pacific Sports Club as they launch MS Dhoni Cricket Academy (MSDCA) & their operations in emirate. o PSC & MSDCA will be working hand-in-hand to develop & launch training camps that will hopefully become a breeding ground for future professional athletes. RCom's merger with Aircel gets NCLT nod o National Company Law Tribunal has approved the merger of Reliance Communications & Aircel. o RCom will merge into Aircel & a new entity 'Aircom' will be created, with both partners having 50% equity stakes. o Both companies will also transfer Rs 14,000 cr of debt each to the new entity, apart from a deferred liability, essentially payment for spectrum in instalments of Rs 7,000 cr over 8 years. Govt slaps $264 mn penalty on RIL, BP o Govt has imposed a penalty of $264 million on Reliance Industries & its partners for producing less than targeted natural gas from eastern offshore KG—D6 fields in 2015-16. o Total penalty now for missing target during 6 years stands at $3.02 billion o PSC allows RIL & its partners BP Plc & Niko Resources to deduct all capital & operating expenses from sale of gas before sharing profit with govt 66 | P a g e
SBI gives leg-up to CSR initiatives o SBI has launched a CSR initiative, SBI Gram Seva which will work in areas of health, education, environment & rural infrastructure. o SBI Foundation will partner with NGOs to carry out CSR initiatives under which will adopt 5 villages each from 10 village panchayats with each village getting Rs 2.40 cr over next 3 years o 10 gram panchayats comprising of 50 villages in 6 states have been adopted Top 200 firms making green revenue o India is among top 11 countries as 7 of its companies are among a list of 200 largest publicly traded entities that are making significant revenue from clean energy. o India ranked 5th after China, US, Japan & Germany. o Top global companies making the list are Siemens, Toyota, ABB, Panasonic etc. o Few Indian companies that made to the list are Suzlon Energy, BHEL, Tata Chemicals, Exide and IDFC SBI cuts staff strength o SBI has reduced its staff headcount by 6,622 in 1st quarter of FY18 to 2.73 from 2.80 lakh due to retirements & voluntary retirement scheme. o Bank plans to redeploy over 10,000 employees following merger of its associate banks & due to digitisation. o A large part of job restructuring is taking place due to merger as bank juggles its branch network to avoid having several outlets on same street IIP shrinks 0.1% in June 2017 o Factory output fell to a four-year low and contracted by 0.1% in June with poor performance of manufacturing and mining sectors. o In contrast, IIP grew by a healthy eight per cent in June 2016. For May, IIP growth has been revised upwards to 2.8%. 67 | P a g e
o This is the lowest growth since June 2013 when the Index of Industrial Production (IIP) contracted by 1%. India INX to begin gold options o BSEs India INX has received an approval from SEBI to commence trading in gold options contracts from August 30. o It will be the first one in India and IFSC to commence trading from August 30. o It will enhance overall market participation & also complement the existing futures. o India INX, a wholly owned subsidiary of BSE, is located at International Financial Services Centre, GIFT City. 2-tier interest rate for savings A/Cs o Indian Bank has introduced two tier interest rate structure for saving bank accounts. o The bank will offer 4% interest per annum for incremental balance over Rs 50 lakh and 3.50% per annum for balance up to Rs 50 lakh. o The new interest rate will be effective from August 16, 2017. o Indian Bank is headquartered in Chennai and is one of the top performing public sector banks in India. First to purchase Eagle Ford shale oil o IOC has bought 1.9 mn barrels of US crude in its 2nd import tender seeking oil from America, making it 1st Indian refiner to purchase Eagle Ford shale oil. o IOC bought 950,000 barrels of light sweet Eagle Ford shale oil & 950,000 barrels of heavy sour Mars crude from Trafigura. o Indian refiners have turned their sights to crude from US as they are keen to diversify their crude import sources. India raises vegetable oil import taxes
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o India, World’s biggest buyer of vegetable oils, has raised import taxes on crude and refined edible oils to protect local oilseed farmers. o India doubled the import tax on crude palm oils to 15% and raised the import tax on refined palm oils to 25%, increasing the differential in duty by 10 percentage points. o India spends about $10 billion a year to import palm oil from Malaysia and Indonesia Sebi ties up with SEO of Iran o SEBI has entered into a pact with its counterpart in Iran to promote technical assistance and facilitate cross-border co-operation in the area of securities regulations. o It will facilitate mutual assistance and enable effective enforcement of laws and regulations governing the securities markets. o The MoU was signed by Sebi chief Ajay Tyagi and SEO Iran chairman Shapour Mohammadi. World's 3rd most funded private company o With $2.4 billion funding from SoftBank, Flipkart has become the 3rd most funded private company globally. o Flipkart till date has raised almost $7 billion in capital, higher than that raised by Airbnb & Xiaomi. o Flipkart has been funded by global players like SoftBank, eBay, Tencent & Microsoft among others. o The top 2 are both ridehailing platforms - China based Didi Chuxing & US- based Uber. RBI to pay Rs 30,659 cr dividend to govt o RBI will pay Rs 30,659 cr dividend to govt for the year ended 30 June, less than half of what it paid in the previous year. o RBI had in previous year paid Rs 65,876 cr dividend to the govt.
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o Reduction in transfer of surplus to the govt could be due to factors like higher cost of printing new currency notes, cost of managing excess liquidity generated from phasing out of Rs 500 & Rs 1000 notes. Hike Messenger acquires Creo o Hike Messenger has acquired Creo - A Bengaluru-based tech start-up that makes dual-SIM smartphone Mark 1. o Creo team will work on a developer platform to enable 3rd party developers to build services on Hike platform. o Creo in past have also launched hardware products that include media streaming dongles & smartphones. o Hike was launched in 2012 & has a user base of over 100mn as of Jan 2016. Canara Bank unveils two digital services o Canara Bank has unveiled 2 new digital services for online payments - Bharat QR and Bharat Bill Payment System. o Bharat QR is for payment settlement at merchant locations while Bharat Bill Payment System is an integrated bill payment system for net banking customers. o Bharat QR will enables a merchant to accept payments as settlement for sale of goods or services. SEBI allows MCX to launch gold options o Multi Commodity Exchange has received capital markets regulator SEBI's approval to launch options on gold. o It will allow investors & hedgers to minimise their price risk at a fraction of cost compared to currently available futures trading. o Exchange is also upgrading its technology to handle increased participation 1 year after options launch & should be ready to launch gold options by Oct. Facebook launches YouTube competitor 70 | P a g e
o In a bid to take on YouTube, Facebook has rolled out 'Watch' - a redesigned video platform for creators & publishers. o It will let users discover videos outside of their own feed more easily, while giving them a way to create Watchlists & an easier means of following videos made by a favorite artist or publisher o It will roll out to a limited number of users, and video creators in U.S. first. VW, Tata Motors Call Off Partnership o Tata Motors & Volkswagen group firm Skoda have decided not to pursue a proposed long-term partnership due to feasibility issues o Joint technical feasibility study has found that strategic benefits for both parties are below desired level o Tata Motors, Volkswagen group & Skoda had announced entering into a long-term partnership for joint development of products with 1st rollout expected in 2019 SoftBank Vision Fund invests in Flipkart o Softbank has invested in Flipkart through its $100 billion technology- focused Vision Fund. o Softbank Vision Fund is pegged at $2.5-2.6 billion making it the largest shareholder in the company. o The deal will give Flipkart's largest backer Tiger Global Management, a partial exit. o The investment is part of Flipkart’s recent round where it raised $1.4 billion from Tencent, eBay and Microsoft. Odisha partners with Facebook o Odisha will partner with Facebook to train women entrepreneurs & Self Help Groups to promote entrepreneurship & digital literacy. o Facebook has agreed to partner with state govt to train 25,000 Ministry of Micro, Small and Medium Enterprises & SHG entrepreneurs by Aug 2018.
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o Hands-on workshops on Digital Marketing Skills in collaboration with Facebook will also be organised by state govt. Mobile app development programme o National Skill Development Corporation & Google India will come together to train app developers for mobile platform on Android & web platforms. o It aims to accelerate mobile skill training & create opportunities for youth. o NSDC will introduce a specific course to train developers to create applications for the mobile platform that can be used on smartphone and tablets running on Android OS. World’s Most Innovative Companies o 3 Indian companies including HUL, Asian Paints & Bharti Airtel have been ranked among Forbes’s list of World’s Most Innovative Companies. o This is a weaker performance compared to last year as TCS, L&T & Sun Pharma failed to make the cut this year, bringing down total number of Indian firms from 5 to 3. o Salesforce overtook Tesla Motors regaining top spot as world’s most innovative company. Amazon launches virtual customer service o Amazon has announced launch of virtual customer service model, an initiative to create cost efficient employment prospects for skilled candidates. o VCS has currently been launched in Hyderabad, Pune, Coimbatore & Noida. o This will help many people resume their career & find an earning with comfort of being at home. o It aims to provide & enhance a proficient support experience to customers IDFC Bank partners with Zeta
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o IDFC Bank has partnered with Zeta to launch IDFC Bank Benefits - Payment solution for corporates that digitises employee spends & claims. o IDFC Benefits Card & Zeta app will integrate full suite of allowances & reimbursements offered by an employer into 1 preloaded card. o Employees can access Benefits Card via Zeta app which will enable them to track spends, limits & submit claims digitally. Debit card offer for 0 balance account o Kotak Mahindra Bank will offer debit card at a special price of Rs 99 for the 1st year for customers who will open account under its 0 balance account scheme. o The usual annual fee for debit card procured by 811 account holders (zero balance) is Rs 299. o The name 811, inspired by November 8, 2016, decision of demonetisation, allows customers to open a 0 balance account using bank's mobile app. Flipkart launches Budding Star Programme o Flipkart has launched Budding Star Programme to help employees achieve their dreams by providing financial assistance & paid leave. o Employees who have completed 6 months will be eligible for this programme & can receive up to Rs. 3 lakh in assistance. o Assistance will be provided to those wish to participate in any national or international competition pertaining to any field of interest. ONGC Videsh to pump $150 million o ONGC Videsh, overseas arm of Oil and Natural Gas Corp, plans to invest $150 million in exploration this fiscal year. o It will be used to drill more wells in Colombia as well as in Kazakhstan and Bangladesh. o Drilling has begun in the Kazakhstan block in the Caspian Sea while preparations are on to drill the first well in Bangladesh. o ONGC recently made a commercial discovery in Colombia. 73 | P a g e
Bajaj Ties Up With Triumph o Bajaj Auto has announced a partnership with UK’s Triumph Motorcycles to jointly make mid-capacity motorcycles for Indian and global markets. o With Bajaj’s low-cost expertise the partnership will address the budget segment buyers looking for bikes having engine capacity of 400cc-800cc. o Bajaj will make new range of locally developed Triumph bikes at its Chakan facility in Pune. ICICI Bank launches instant credit cards o ICICI Bank has launched instant credit cards enabling its savings account customers to get a credit card instantly, in a completely digital & paperless manner. o Bank has opened up card with a credit limit of up to Rs 4 lakh based on pre-checked bureau scores. o It will empower customers to instantly get the credit card online in a few steps & immediately start transacting on e-commerce sites. Axis Bank cuts savings account rate o Axis Bank has cut savings account interest rate by 50 bps to 3.5% on balances of up to Rs. 50 lakh. o Axis Bank will continue to offer an interest rate of 4% per annum on savings account balances of Rs. 50 lakh and above o The move comes after State Bank of India introduced two-tier interest rates on savings accounts. o In 2011, the Reserve Bank of India had freed savings bank deposit rates. Sebi bans trade in shell companies o Market regulator Securities & Exchange Board of India has directed stock exchanges to initiate action against 331 firms that it suspects are shell companies & are listed on bourses. o Exchanges have also been asked to appoint an independent auditor to conduct audit of these companies. 74 | P a g e
o Trading in these companies will be placed in Stage VI of Graded Surveillance Measure with immediate effect. Amazon inks pact with Telangana o Amazon India has said it signed a Memorandum of Understanding with the Telangana Department of Handloom and Textiles. o It aims to educate, train and enable weavers and artisans to directly sell their products to Amazon customers across the country. o The partnership also intends to empower and generate livelihood opportunities and income for the artisans and boost their economy. GIC of India files for IPO o General Insurance Corp. of India has filed draft red herring prospectus for its initial public offering. o IPO will see a stake dilution of 14.22% & is likely to raise over Rs10,000 cr. o GIC has appointed Citigroup, Axis Capital, Deutsche Bank, HSBC & Kotak Mahindra Capital to manage the initial offering. o If GIC goes for Rs10,000 cr IPO, it will be the 2nd largest public offering in India. Mastercard, PayPal expand partnership o Mastercard & PayPal have extended their partnership into Asia Pacific to enhance consumer experience & make Mastercard a payment option with PayPal. o It will expand PayPal's presence at point of sale & enable Masterpass for Braintree merchants.. o PayPal will give consumers & small businesses across Asia Pacific ability to cash out funds held in their PayPal accounts to a Mastercard debit card. Britannia to set up its largest plant o India’s leading FMCG Britannia Industries would set up its largest plant in Maharashtra in a food park at Ranjangaon.
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o The park would have the largest biscuits manufacturing plant with six lines, along with cake and rusk. o The company is also planning to set up a dairy project at the food park with a capacity of seven lakh litres per day. GST Shiksha hub for small enterprise o TCS iON has announced its partnership with Laghu Udyog Bharati to launch GST-related content to help Micro, Small and Medium Enterprises. o It aims to provide relevant information on GST to all MSMEs on a real- time basis, helping them to be updated on any GST-linked development. o With the availability of digital learning content, Laghu Bharati Udyog will be able to reach MSMEs in remote areas. FB leaves Alphabet and Microsoft behind o Facebook has leapfrogged Microsoft & Alphabet in securing maximum profit per employee in 2nd quarter of 2017 while Twitter suffered a hefty loss. o Facebook which employed 20,658 persons in past quarter made roughly Rs 1.2 cr per employee while Twitter lost nearly Rs 22 lakhs per employee. o Microsoft made Rs 33 lakhs & Alphabet Rs 29 lakhs per employee, 4 times less profit per employee than FB. PNB customers to pay higher charges o PNB customers will have to pay charges for depositing cash above Rs 5000 in non-base branch even if it is located in same city. o Customer will have to pay Re 1 per Rs 1000 for above Rs 5000 cash deposit or part thereof with a min. of Rs 25 per transaction. o Bank has also revised cheque returning charges for payment of above Rs 1 cr to Rs 2000 for first cheque & Rs 2500 for subsequent bounces. Disclose bank defaults within one day
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o SEBI has made it mandatory for companies to disclose any instance of default on payment of interest or repayment of principal to banks within a day of default. o Companies have been directed to provide information pertaining to defaults to concerned credit rating agencies in a timely manner. o The move comes against the backdrop of Rs10 trillion of stressed assets piling up in the banking system Canara Bank hits overseas bond market o Canara Bank has hit the international bond market with a USD 400- million issue as part of its USD 2-billion medium term note programme. o The lender is likely to raise USD 400 million through bond sale issue, which will be drawn through its London branch and will be listed on the Singapore Stock Exchange. o Foregin rating agency Moody's has assigned a Baa3 rating to the issue. Indusind crosses 1 trillion market cap o IndusInd Bank has become the 6th listed Indian bank to join club of lenders that have seen their market capitalisation soar past Rs1 trillion mark. o In June quarter, bank reported 26.5% increase in its net profit to Rs836.55 cr while Net interest income rose 30.8% to Rs1,774.06 crore. o HDFC, ICICI, SBI, Kotak and Axis are other bank that have market capitalisation over 1 trillion mark. IndianOil to buy 50% in GSPL-Adani LNG o Board of Indian Oil Corporation has given its in-principle approval for acquiring up to 50% equity in GSPL LNG terminal in Gujarat for an estimated Rs 750 cr. o GSPL LNG is a joint venture of Gujarat State Petroleum Corp &.Adani Enterprises. Adani & GSPC are equal partners in GSPL LNG.
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o GSPL LNG is setting up a 5 million tonne per annum liquefied natural gas terminal at Mundra Port in Gujarat. Delhi Police ties up with Uber o Uber is collaborating with Delhi Police to allow quick access to Himmat, a women safety mobile app, through the rider app. o This is Delhi Police’s first partnership with a technology company to intensify its focus on safety of women in the city. o Uber aims to act as a force multiplier and expand its access to all of Uber’s women riders. o Himmat app currently has over 31,000 registered users. India signs loan pact with AIIB o India has signed a loan agreement with Asian Infrastructure Investment Bank for financing of $329 million for Gujarat Rural Roads Project. o It aims to improve rural road connectivity & accessibility to more than thousand villages in all 33 districts of the state benefiting about 80 lakh people. o It will also benefit service providers such as public transport operators, local markets & traders. Bank of Baroda cuts interest on savings o Bank of Baroda has followed SBI by slashing interest rate on savings bank account to 3.5 per cent on deposits of up to Rs 50 lakh. o However, for balance above of Rs 50 lakh, the bank has retained the rate at 4 per cent. o Interest rates on savings accounts had remained stagnant at 4 percent for many years, despite the Reserve Bank of India having deregulated them in October 2010. Microsoft ties up with Telengana o Telangana govt has signed an agreement with Microsoft India to adopt cloud-based analytics solution for Rashtriya Bal Swasthya Karyakram. 78 | P a g e
o It will also use of Microsoft Intelligent Network for Eyecare, the artificial intelligence platform with multiple stakeholders, for eye screening. o Telangana will become the first state in India to bring AI in public health screening. Jaitley announces Bharat-22 ETF o Financial Minister Arun Jaitley launched a new ETF under the name Bharat 22, which will comprise shares of 22 companies. o ETF will have a single company cap of 15%, while a sectoral cap of 22% will also be in place. o Bharat-22 ETF will comprise of the government’s holding in SUUTI, CPSE ETF and PSU banks. o ETF's are essentially Index Funds that are listed and traded on exchanges like stocks. Tata Memorial ties up with IDA o Tata Memorial Centre has joined hands with Indian Dental Association to start India's 1st digital initiative for prevention & early detection of oral cancer. o The 2 launched a special course on Oral Cancer on World Head and Neck Cancer Day to create awareness of oral cancer. o Tata Memorial Centre is known destination for cancer treatment & its dedication to provide latest treatment technology. Infosys to acquire Brilliant Basics o Infosys has signed an agreement to acquire Brilliant Basics, a London- based product design & customer experience innovator. o This represents Infosys commitment towards digital studios, which are focused on fulfilling needs of its global clients for end-to-end digital transformation solutions. o It will enhance Infosys expertise in financial, retail & telecom sectors across Europe & Middle East. 79 | P a g e
SBI plans to raise Rs 2,000 cr o State Bank of India plans to raise Rs. 2,000 crore by allotting Basel-III compliant bonds to various investors. o The bonds will carry a coupon rate of 8.15% per annum with a call option after 5 years or the anniversary date thereafter. o State Bank of India is India's largest Bank headquartered at Mumbai, led by Arundhati Bhattacharya. Machine Learning Hub in Bengaluru o IBM has opened its 1st Machine Learning Hub in Bengaluru which would provide a physical space to organisations for hands-on training on machine learning. o It will allow data professionals to work with IBM's data science experts to understand & learn technology to analyse & interpret data. o It will provides a platform for enterprises to collaborate & transform their data science processes. MoU for agriculture related price info o Multi Commodity Exchange of India and Mahindra Agri. have signed a MoU to provide agriculture related price information. o MCX would be providing price information, open interest information, spot price, future price for all agri commodities. o It will enable farmers to manage prices and will provide them with solutions that boost both agricultural productivity and farm incomes substantially Airtel and Telenor receive NCLT nod o The proposed merger between Bharti Airtel and Telenor India has been approved by the National Company Law Tribunal. o Airtel will pocket 43.4 units of 4G spectrum in 1800 MHz band once the Telenor deal is concluded.
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o Airtel will also take over Telenor India’s outstanding spectrum payments and other operational contracts, including tower leases besides employees and 44 million customers. MobiKwik raises Rs 225 crore o Digital payment company Mobikwik has raised Rs 225 crore from Bajaj Finance. o Under the agreement, Bajaj Finance will acquire 10 equity shares & 271,050 compulsory convertible preference shares of Mobikwik. o Mobikwik has 55m users, 1.5m merchants & claims to be growing at 250% year-on-year. o MobiKwik had till now raised $80 million from investors including Sequoia Capital, American Express. Saathi programme reaches 100000 villages o Google India has reached a milestone of 100,000 villages with its Internet Saathi programme which was launched as a pilot in Rajasthan in July 2015 along with Tata Trusts. o Google will also be expanding the program in two new states - Haryana and Bihar. o 25,000 fully trained Internet Saathis are working everyday across these villages to help women and children learn about the Internet. PayPal launches innovation labs in India o PayPal has opened 2 innovation labs in India to support projects in the field of machine learning, artificial intelligence and other new technologies. o The labs in Bangalore and Chennai are company’s first in India. PayPal has labs in the US and Singapore. o Labs will also be integrated PayPal Incubator, which was launched in 2013, to develop & nurture the next generation of fintech startups. SBI debit cards now on Samsung Pay 81 | P a g e
o SBI debit cards have been integrated with Samsung Pay, which allows payments by waving Samsung smartphone near cash register instead of swiping a card. o SBI has 270 million active debit cardholders, of which 130 million cardholders will be immediately eligible to make payments through Samsung Pay. o Samsung Pay works on point-of-sale terminals through its magnetic secure transmission technology Facebook acquires AI startup o To build a more elaborate personal assistant for Messenger users, Facebook has acquired an artificial intelligence startup Ozlo o Ozlo specialises in understanding text-based conversations & can provide answers to questions which do not have simple "yes" or "no" answers. o Recently FB shut down one of its AI systems after chatbots started speaking in their own language defying codes provided. Flipkart completes eBay India merger o Flipkart has completed the merger with eBay India's operations. Flipkart will own & operate eBay.in, which will remain an independent entity as part of Flipkart o Deal was announced in April when Flipkart group raised $1.4 billion from eBay, Tencent & Microsoft. o In exchange of an equity stake in Flipkart, eBay had made a cash investment of $500 million & sold its eBay.in business to Flipkart. RBI slaps Rs 3-cr penalty on Union Bank o RBI has imposed Rs 3 cr penalty on Union Bank of India for non- compliance of know-your-customer norms. o In 1st case RBI slapped a penalty of Rs 2 cr after it received a complaint regarding huge cash withdrawals and in the 2nd case a penalty of Rs 1 cr was imposed due to a fraud in the bank. 82 | P a g e
o KYC is a process by which banks obtain information about identity & address of customers.
Science & Technology
ISRO all set to launch IRNSS-1H o Indian Space Research Organisation is all set to launch PSLV-C39 carrying Indian Regional Navigation Satellite System. o The satellite IRNSS-1H is a part of the indigenous navigation system called ‘NavIC,’ that was initially planned to have a constellation of 7 satellites. o Like its other IRNSS predecessors, IRNSS-1H also carries 2 types of payloads such as navigation payload & ranging payload. A new score in waste management o Scientists from CSIR’s National Institute for Interdisciplinary Science and Technology, Thiruvananthapuram have been able to turn waste into wealth. o They have produced ethanol from discarded cotton-stalks by using a combination of chemical and biological techniques. o The results were published in Bioresource Technology. Taiwan launches 1st homegrown satellite o Taiwan's first locally built satellite Formosat-5 has been launched into space from an air base in the US. o The Formosat-5 rode on a Falcon 9 rocket owned by private spaceflight company SpaceX. o The satellite is equipped with Complementary Metal-oxide-semiconductor sensors to observe the Earth. o The launch is seen as a great leap that demonstrates Taiwan's technological progress. Google launches Android ‘Oreo’ 83 | P a g e
o Google has launched its version 8.0 of operating system as Android Oreo o New update comes with a Picture-in-Picture feature that allows user to see 2 apps simultaneously o Oreo is more secure with Google Play Protect built in, security status front & centre in settings and has tighter app install controls o Android Instant Apps is a new feature which teleports directly into new apps from browser World's smallest surgical robot o British scientists have developed worlds smallest surgical robot which could transform daily operations for tens of thousands of patients. o The robot, called Versius, mimics human arm & can be used to carry out a wide range of laparoscopic procedures including hernia repairs, colorectal operations. o Robot is controlled by a surgeon at a console guided by a 3D screen in the operating theatre. Japan launches satellite to improve GPS o Japan has launched a rocket & put the 3rd of its new quasi-zenith satellites into orbit to help improve precision of the global positioning system. o H-2A rocket launched by JAXA carried Michibiki No 3 which is part of a 4 satellite constellation. o New satellite system will be officially put into use next year & complement a network of US satellites that Japan previously used for its GPS needs. Fiat Chrysler & BMW to develop robotaxi o Fiat Chrysler will join an alliance led by BMW to develop self-driving cars,intensifying a race by carmakers and technology companies to develop "robotaxis" which can be called up via smartphone and paid for by the minute. o The market for such self-driving cabs could be worth $2 trillion by 2030. o The first car will enter production in 2021. 84 | P a g e
New tectonic plate discovered o US-based Rice University researchers have found a new tectonic plate in the eastern Pacific Ocean off Ecuador’s coast. o It is named after a Colombian island, the Malpelo plate is the 57th plate to be discovered and the first in nearly a decade. o The research was published in the journal Geophysical Research Letters. Damselfly named after David Attenborough o Scientists have named a 100-million-year-old damselfly after veteran broadcaster and naturalist, Sir David Attenborough. o The delicate creature, dubbed Mesosticta davidattenboroughi, was discovered in Burma's Kachin province locked inside a nugget of amber dating from the mid-Cretaceous, when dinosaurs still lorded over the planet. o Amber is a fossilised form of tree resin. Tissue bandage to repair hearts o Scientists have developed an injectable tissue bandage smaller than a postage stamp that can repair damaged hearts. o Researchers at University of Toronto have developed a technique that lets them use a small needle to inject a repair patch, without the need to open up chest cavity. o AngioChip is a tiny patch of heart tissue with its own blood vessels & heart cells beating with a regular rhythm Plant-Based And Safer Vaccine For Zika o Scientists have developed the world’s first plant-based Zika vaccine that may be more effective, safer and cheaper than other vaccines. o Vaccine developed by researchers from ASU works against a part of a Zika viral protein, called DIII, that plays a key role for virus to infect people. o It uses smallest & most unique part of Zika virus that can still elicit a potent & robust immune response. 85 | P a g e
DNA sensor for quick pathogen detection o Ultrasensitive DNA sensor that can detect S. pyogenes, a bacterium which causes a wide range of diseases in about 30 min has been developed. o Conventional method of identification takes 18-24 hrs & basic culture test does not specifically help distinguish S. pyogenes. o Sensor is developed by scientists from CSIR-Institute of Genomics & Integrative Biology & National Centre for Disease Control. Online course on Infusion Therapy o Infusion Nurses Society - A global authority in infusion therapy launched India's first online course on Infusion Therapy for nurses. o It aims to train over 3,000 nurses in the vital medical procedure. o Utilising the reach and ease of the digital platform, the course will enable members to access the various infusion therapy modules and presentations through its website. Water as propellant for tiny satellites o Engineers at Purdue University in US have designed & tested a micro propulsion system that uses liquid water as propellant for orbital manoeuvring of tiny satellites called CubeSats. o Pure water is chosen since it is green, safe, easy to use & free from risk of contaminating sensitive instruments. o CubeSats are poised to take over the sky in the future to carry out imaging & remote-sensing. New drug delivery platform o Women team of IIT Delhi researchers has developed a new drug delivery platform using nanoparticles. o It can boost efficacy of antibiotics at cellular level & improve chances of recovery from cancer-related bacterial infections
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o It would be useful for cancer patients because if bacterial infection in cancer remains untreated it can infect host even after cancer cells are killed by chemotherapy ISRO to sign MoU with CSIR-NPL o In order to make desi GPS independent from the US clock system ISRO will sign an MoU with CSIR-National Physical Laboratory for time and frequency traceability services. o It will help the desi GPS to get formally synchronised with the Indian Standard Time. o NPL maintains accuracy of ±20 nanoseconds and thereby gives the most accurate time which is essential for satellite navigation system.
Sports
India lift SAFF Under-15 Championship o Lalrokima and Vikram struck in the second half to guide India to SAFF Under-15 Championship title win as India beat Nepal. o The India team, which had players from AIFF's Regional Academy, trailed by a goal at the interval but Lalrokima and Vikram's timely strikes saved the day for India. o The match was held in Kathmandu. World Badminton Championships 2017 o Denmark's Viktor Axelsen defeated Lin Dan in straight games to claim the men's singles gold at the World Championships in Glasgow. o Axelsen is the third Dane to claim the men's singles crown. o Flemming Delfs won the inaugural 1977 title and Peter Rasmussen was a winner, also in Glasgow, 20 years ago. PV Sindhu wins silver
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o PV Sindhu won the silver medal at the 2017 World Championship. She was defeated by Nozomi Okuhara of Japan. o Nozomi became the first Japanese women's singles champion while Sindhu is the second Indian after Saina to secure silver. o The summit clash lasted an unbelievable and incredible one hour and 50 minutes. Lewis Hamilton wins Belgian GP o Lewis Hamilton defeated Formula 1 title rival Sebastian Vettel in the Belgian Grand Prix to close the gap in the championship to seven points. o This was Hamilton's fifth success in 12 races this season, and 58th of his career. o Sebastian Vettel finished second for Ferrari, 2.3 seconds behind Hamilton while Daniel Ricciardo took third place for Red Bull. First player to score 350 La Liga goals o Barcelona star Lionel Messi became the first player to pass 350 goals in La Liga with a double for Barcelona in the 2-0 win against Alaves. o He is only the second player in European football to reach the 350-goal mark. o He has 66 more than Real Madrid's Cristiano Ronaldo, his closest challenger in the all-time list. Mayweather knocks out McGregor o Floyd Mayweather defeated Conor McGregor by way of technical knockout in 10th round of the megafight to keep his perfect record intact. o Mayweather, who came out of a 2 year retirement for the bout, now takes his professional boxing career's record to 50-0 surpassing Rocky Marciano's 49-0 record for most wins without a loss or draw. o After the win Mayweather promptly announced his retirement. Farah ends track career in style
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o 4 time champion Mo Farah ended his track career with victory in 5,000m at Diamond League final. o Farah who will now switch to road running clocked 13min 06.05sec to defeat Paul Chelimo. o He is the most decorated athlete in British history, with 10 global titles & was the first British athlete to win 2 gold medals at same world championships. o It was Farah’s 1st career Diamond League trophy. Rural Games to take place in New Delhi o Minister of Youth Affairs & Sports Vijay Goel announced the first edition of Rural Games or Grameen Khel Mahotsav, which will kick-start on August 28 in the national capital. o It aims at popularising the indigenous games like wrestling & athletics. o Grameen Marathon organised by Sports Ministry marked the beginning of Rural Games fever with participation of over 16,000 youth from rural Delhi. Saina Nehwal settles for bronze o Saina Nehwal had to settled for a bronze medal at the World Badminton Championships after a heart-breaking loss against Nozomi Okuhara of Japan in women's singles semi-finals. o The 7th seed Japanese eked out a hard-fought 12-21, 21-17, 21-10 victory & became the 1st shuttler from Japan to reach the finals of World Championship. o Saina won a silver in the last edition in Jakarta 2 years ago. Vettel signs new three-year Ferrari deal o The four-time world champion, who was due to become a free agent at the end of the season, has agreed a new three-year deal with the team. o The four-time champion has been at the team since 2015. o The contract ends in 2020. 89 | P a g e
VP to launch Sports Talent Portal o Vice President of India Venkaiah Naidu will officially launch the Sports Ministry's much- awaited National Sports Talent Search Portal at the Indira Gandhi Indoor Stadium. o The portal will provide a three step simple process for registration, profile creation and upload of achievements. o Around 1000 kids will be selected and they will receive scholarships of Rs 5 lakh per year for eight years. England to host 2018 ITTF Team World Cup o England has been awarded the right to host the 2018 Table Tennis Team World Cup, which will be held in London. o It will be the first major table tennis-only event to be held in London since Wembley hosted the 1954 World Championships. o Event will take place at Copper Box Arena in Queen Elizabeth Olympic Park from 22-25 February. o A total of 12 men's & 12 women's teams will compete at the event Wayne Rooney retires o England's record goalscorer Wayne Rooney announced his retirement from international football with immediate effect. o Rooney earned his first cap against Australia in 2003 at the age of 17 years and 111 days to become the youngest player. o Rooney retires as England's greatest ever goalscorer, netting 53 times in 119 appearances, which also makes him second-highest capped player for the country Australia claim first FIBA Asia Cup o Australia defeated Iran 79-56 to claim the championship of the FIBA Asian Cup basketball tournament in Beirut. o It was the first appearance for Australia in the tournament, while Iran is a three-time champion. 90 | P a g e
o This marked the first year that Oceania powers Australia and New Zealand were included in Asian basketball competition. Indian athletes bag record 37 medals o The Indian contingent for the World Dwarf Games has bagged as many as 37 medals from the games, which were held in Toronto, Canada. o The Indian side stunned the world to secure a top-10 finish in the tournament, by clinching 15 gold, 10 silver and 12 bronze medals. o Joby Matthew contributed the most to India's medals tally, bagging two golds, three silvers and a bronze. Lakshya wins Bulgaria Open Int'l Series o Young Indian shuttler Lakshya Sen clinched the Bulgaria Open International Series title after a hard-fought win over Zvonimir Durkinjak in the men's singles final in Sofia, Bulgaria. o He defeated second seed Zvonimir 18-21 21-12 21-17 in a 57-minute match. o Last year, he had won India International Series & clinched a bronze at the CPB Badminton and Sports Science Training Center in Thailand. Neymar becomes goodwill ambassador o World’s most expensive player Neymar has become Handicap International's 1st ever ambassador at a ceremony at UN in Geneva. o Neymar's mandate would be to advocate for rights of people with disabilities in poor countries, victims of natural disasters & conflicts. o Handicap International works for disabled people who are living in poverty & has also won a Nobel Peace Prize. India beats Austria o Ramandeep Singh and Chinglensana Singh Kangujam struck twice to guide the Indian men's hockey team to a sensational 4-3 win over Austria in their final encounter of the Europe Tour. o After two successive wins against World No.4 The Netherlands, India made a steady start against Austria. 91 | P a g e
o The match was held in Amstelveen, the Netherlands. Indian boxers clinch 10 medals o India bagged two gold in the 6th Golden Glove Women's Boxing Tournament at Vojvodina, Serbia. o While Jyoti won Gold in 51 kg category, and Vanlalharitpuii bagged it 60 kg category. o In all, India won two gold, four silver and four bronze medals in the tournament. o The silver medals were clinched by Anjali in 48kg, Sakshi in 54kg, Ashtha in 69kg and Anupama in 81kg categories. Usain Bolt retires o The greatest sprinter of modern times, Usain Bolt has finally said good bye to the Athletics world. o His farewell ended in agony as he injured himself while running the last lap of the men's 4x100m relay race in the World Athletics Championships in London. o An eight-time Olympic gold medalist, Bolt won the 100 m, 200 m and 4 × 100 m relay at three consecutive Olympic Games. Svitolina wins Rogers Cup title o Ukraine's Elina Svitolina came out with a stupendous performance as she defeated Caroline Wozniacki in straight sets to clinch women's singles title of Rogers Cup. o This was Svitolina's 5thttitle of WTA Tour season. She has now become the first player to ever win 3 Premier 5 titles in a single season, i.e. Dubai, Rome & Toronto. o With the win she improves to number 4 in the world rankings. Maratha Yoddhas win Super Boxing League
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o Maratha Yoddhas edged out Haryana Warriors 10-9 in finals to win the inaugural edition of Super Boxing League at Siri Fort Squash & Badminton Stadium. o Maratha Yoddhas won the first two bouts through Sandeep Singh & Andy Chuaua in their respective categories to give their team a 6-0 lead. o The last bout became the title decider & Sandeep Chhikara won by a TKO to win the league for Yoddhas. Mairaj Khan-Rashmmi Rathode bags gold o Indian pair of Mairaj Khan and Rashmmi Rathore won gold in the mixed skeet team event at 7th Asian Shotgun Championship in Kazakhstan. o The Indian duo eked out a narrow 28-27 win over the Chinese pair of Liu Jiangchi and Gao Jianmei in the gold-medal match. o India finished the championship with 8 medals, with Ankur Mittal winning an individual gold and a team gold in men's double trap event. Usain Bolt fails to finish the last o Usain Bolt ended his stellar career in excruciating pain as the Jamaican crumpled to the track while chasing a final gold medal during the 400-meter relay. o Bolt will end his career on the track with 11 World Championships gold medals. o Bolt is 11-time world champion and the first athlete to hold 100- and 200- meter world records since fully automatic time became mandatory. Chundan lifts 65th Nehru Trophy o Gabriel Chundan, the snake boat powered by oarsmen of Thuruthippuram Boat Club won the 65th edition of Nehru Trophy held at Punnamda Lake. o While 'Mahadevikkad Kattilthekkethil' came 2nd, 'Payippad' & 'Karichal', last year's winner, secured 3rd & 4th spots respectively. o Nehru trophy was instituted to commemorate visit of 1st Indian PM Jawaharlal Nehru to the area & his boat ride in the lake. 93 | P a g e
Ramil Guliyev wins gold o Wayde van Niekerk's dreams of emulating legend Michael Johnson's 200m/400m world double lay in tatters on as Turkey's Ramil Guliyev edged the 200m final. o Jereem Richards won the bronze medal. o The event was held at the at the London Olympic Stadium. 1st Indian to qualify for javelin finals o Davinder Singh Kang has become the first Indian to qualify for the final round of the javelin throw World Championships. o Competing in the qualification round Group B, Kang cleared the automatic qualification mark of 83m in his third and final throw as he sent the iron spear to a distance of 84.22m. o Kang's best effort of 84.22m put him in the seventh position among the final round qualifiers. Real Madrid wins UEFA Super Cup o Real Madrid captured the UEFA Super Cup for a second straight year, defeating Manchester United in finals to win 2-1 in Macedonia. o Casemiro and Isco scored the goals for Real Madrid on either side of halftime, leading the club to yet another trophy under Zinedine Zidane. o Real Madrid have now won both the UEFA Champions League and the UEFA Super Cup for two years running. McLeod wins world title o Omar McLeod of Jamaica won the 110m Hurdles final at the London 2017 IAAF World Championships in London. o He dominated the race, winning in 13.04 seconds, a metre clear of the defending champion, Russian Sergey Shubenkov while with Balazs Baji of Hungary clinched bronze. o He is now the current 110m hurdle Olympic and World champion after winning the men 110m hurdles final. 94 | P a g e
Sharapova gets China Open wildcard o Maria Sharapova has accepted an invitation to make her seventh appearance at the China Open in Beijing. o She has only played four tournaments since returning in April from a 15- month doping ban for the use of meldonium. o This will be Sharapova's first tournament in Asia this year. o Wimbledon champion Garbine Muguruza, Caroline Wozniacki, Venus Williams will also take part in the Beijing event. Alexander Zverev wins Citi Open title o German Alexander Zverev used his dominant serve to claim a fourth ATP title of the year with 6-4, 6-4 win over South African Kevin Anderson at the Citi Open in Washington. o Zverev won his fifth career title and improved his career record against Anderson to 3-0. o Zverev joined Rafa Nadal as a four-time ATP winner this year. Only Roger Federer, with five, has captured more titles in 2017. Arsenal win Community Shield o Arsenal defeated Chelsea 4-1 on penalties to win the season-opening Community Shield for the 15th time. o Chelsea's Victor Moses opened the scoring when he smashed a loose ball past Cech in 46th minute before Arsenal's Kalasinac equalised in 82nd minute. o For the first time on English soil, an ABBA penalty shootout took place, Giroud scored the winning penalty to help Arsenal win over Chelsea. Tenth successive global title o British athletics Mo Farah won his 10th successive global title claiming the 10,000m world crown at London. o Farah, who registered a timing of 26 minutes & 49.51 seconds, has now registered his third consecutive world championship gold medal. 95 | P a g e
o He has won European Athlete of the Year award & British Athletics Writers Association British Athlete of the Year award, 3 times & 6 times respectively. Ankur Mittal wins gold o Indian shooter Ankur Mittal clinched the individual as well as the team gold medal in men's double trap at the 7th Asian Shotgun Championship. o He shot 71 in the six-man final to finish at the top of the podium. o He had won a gold medal at International Shooting Sport Federation World Cup in Mexico earlier this year. o He had also bagged a silver in season's inaugural World Cup in New Delhi. Jhajharia recommended for Khel Ratna o Two-time Paralympic gold-medallist Devendra Jhajharia became the first paralympian to be recommended for the country’s highest sporting honour - the Rajiv Gandhi Khel Ratna award. o He won a gold in javelin at 2016 Rio Paralympics, is the only Indian to win 2 Paralympic golds. He had won his medals in the javelin throw event. o Jhajharia is currently employed with the Sports Authority of India. Los Angeles agrees to host 2028 Games o Los Angeles formally announced its bid for the 2028 Summer Olympics after agreeing on a deal that paves the way for Paris to host in 2024. o Both cities had lobbied hard to host the 2024 games, but Paris had consistently refused to countenance waiting any longer after losing out with a series of bids for past games o Los Angeles will host the Olympic Games and Paralympic Games in 2028.
Defence
Single-engine fighter jets in India
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o Sweden's Saab will tie up with India's Adani Group to bid for a contract to make fighter aircrafts in India. o Partnership will compete with Lockheed Martin in a 2 horse-race to equip Indian military with single-engine jets to be produced locally under "Make-in-India" initiative. o Lockheed has already picked India's Tata Advanced Systems as its local partner to produce its F-16 fighter planes. Hercules training centre o Mahindra Defence Systems in association with Lockheed Martin has opened the C-130J Super Hercules simulator training center at Hindon Air Force station. o It will train air crew who operate the C-130J special operations aircraft acquired from Lockheed Martin in 2011. o The center will deliver qualitative and quantitative training to hone the tactical and operational skills of the C-130J pilots Arun Jaitley hands over missile to Navy o Defence Minister Arun Jaitley handed over the Long-Range Surface-to-Air Missile jointly developed by India and Israel, to the Indian Navy, at Bharat Dynamics Ltd here. o LRSAM is an advanced combat suit for missile defence against air targets and missiles. o Public sector BDL is the missile production agency for the three armed forces. Boost to Army’s air power o Indian Army will finally get an advanced medium-range surface to air missile system by 2020 which will be able to shoot down ballistic missiles, fighter jets & attack helicopters from a range of around 70 km. o The missile system will be produced by DRDO in collaboration with the Israel Aerospace Industries. 97 | P a g e
o The current version of MRSAM is operational with the Indian Air Force and the Navy. IAF Deploys Hercules Strategic Aircraft o Indian Air Force installed 6 C-130J Super Hercules strategic aircraft in its Arjan Singh base in Panagarh, West Bengal. o Arjan Singh is the 2nd base in the country to have a fat fleet of Hercules aircraft after Hindon Air Force base in Ghaziabad, Uttar Pradesh. o C-130J Super Hercules can carry 64 airborne troops with equipment and can also be used to carry 6 pallets or a few armoured vehicles. ICGS Varuna decommissioned o Indian Coast Guard Ship Varuna, which was part of 1st Training Squadron of Navy was decommissioned with full armed forces honours. o It had numerous achievements to its credit including record no. of apprehension of smugglers with gold during late 80s. o It had an illustrious service spanning about 30 years. o It was the 4th of in its class of offshore patrol vessels built by Mazagon Dock. Navy inducts landing craft utility ship o Navy has inducted a landing craft utility ship LCU L52 which was commissioned by Lt Governor of Andaman & Nicobar Islands Jagdish Mukhi. o It will be deployed for a variety of activities including transporting battle tanks & other heavy weapons systems. o It has been indigenously designed & built by GRSE. o It can be used for multirole activities like search, rescue & disaster relief operations. More teeth to T-90 battle tanks o Army is working on a project to add more teeth to its T-90 main battle tanks by arming them with a third generation missile system. 98 | P a g e
o Currently, the T-90 tanks are equipped with a laser guided INVAR missile system. The Army has decided to replace them with a third generation gun-launched missile. o The Russian-origin T-90 tanks are mainstays of the Indian Army's offensive formations. US & South Korea to begin military drill o US & South Korea would begin a 10-day-long annual military exercise amid continued provocative behaviour from North Korea o Ulchi Freedom Guardian drill is a computer simulated defencive exercise designed to enhance readiness, protect region & maintain stability on Korean peninsula o In addition to South Korea & US forces, UN Command forces from 7 sending states will participate in this exercise Indian Army to get 6 attack helicopters o India has approved the purchase of six Boeing Co.-made Apache AH-64E multi-role attack helicopters valued at Rs4,168 crore for the army. o The new agreement will be in addition to the 2015 decision to buy 22 Apaches & 15 Chinook heavy-lift helicopters worth $3 billion for Air Force under a govt-to-govt deal with US. o Apaches have been used in conflicts in the Gulf, Kosovo, Afghanistan and Iraq. Israel fence systems at Pak Borders o India is deploying along its volatile border with Pakistan a smart Israel- developed fencing system. o The fencing system has a 'quick response team' mechanism which strikes when CCTV-powered control room detects an infiltration attempt. o New equipment & technologies will be integrated and a feed, from CCTV cameras, will go to the border out post where a monitor will be installed. India, Russia to hold mega war games 99 | P a g e
o India & Russia will hold a mega war game involving their armies, navies & air forces for the 1st time to ramp up military ties. o Exercise Indra will be held in Russia from Oct 19 to 29, focus will be on achieving coordination b/w forces of the 2 countries. o It will be for the 1st time India will participate in a tri-services exercise with a foreign country with such a large scale participation Pradhan commissions ICGS Shaurya o MoS for Petroleum and Natural Gas Dharmendra Pradhan commissioned Indian Coast Guard Ship Shaurya in Vasco, Goa. o ICGS Shaurya is an offshore patrol vessel designed and built indigenously by Goa Shipyard, fitted with advanced navigation and communication equipment. o The ship is planned to be based at Chennai under the administrative and operational control of Commander Coast Guard Region. 24X7 virtual fence along Indo-Pak border o Govt is planning to install a 24X7 seamless virtual fence with sensors along the India-Pakistan border to curb infiltration bid. o A pilot project for deployment of Comprehensive Integrated Border Management Solution which includes different types of sensors, day and night vision cameras has been taken up. o The pilot project has been undertaken in 2 stretches of 5 to 6 kms each in Jammu sector Indonesia and Russia signs a new deal o Indonesia's PT Perusahaan Perdagangan Indonesia & Russia's Rostec have signed a deal to trade Sukhoi SU-35 for commodities like tea & coffee. o Indonesia had $411 million trade surplus with Russia in 2016 & aims to expand its partnership in tourism, education among others o Under supervision of both govts deal will soon be realised through exchange of 11 Sukhoi SU-35 & no. of Indonesian exports 100 | P a g e
Goa to host Defence Expo next year o Goa govt is all ready to hold Defexpo 2018, a land, naval & internal security exhibition at Naqueri-Quitol in South Goa. o The biennial event organised by Defence Ministry was held at Naqueri- Quitol village in South Goa last year. o Defence Expo is an exhibition of various defence-related products. It provides a platform to the exhibitors to display their latest technologies and products. Sri Lankan Navy commissions AOPV o Sri Lankan Navy has commissioned an India-built state-of-the-art Advanced Offshore Patrol Vessel. o Built at Goa Shipyard, SLNS Sayurala is 1st ever platform purchased from a foreign ship builder to boost search & rescue capabilities. o It is the largest vessel built by an Indian ship builder for a foreign navy. o It is expected to conduct patrols, policing & surveillance in it's maritime zones Navy to induct INS Kalvari o Indian Navy is reportedly all set to commission one of world’s deadliest fighting tools, the INS Kalvari into its fleet. o The INS Kalvari, a Scorpene class attack submarine and named after a deep-sea tiger shark, is expected to significantly boost the Navy's underwater prowess. o This is the first of six such submarines the Navy has ordered. Currently, it has just 15 submarines in its fleet India's first defence sub-systems unit o KRAS, a joint venture b/w Kalyani Strategic Systems & Rafael Advanced Defense Systems of Israel inaugurated their state-of-the-art facility at Hyderabad.
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o KRAS would be India's first private sector advanced defence sub-systems manufacturing entity. o It will be engaged in development of a wide range of advanced capabilities like Command Control & Guidance, Electro-Optics, Remote Weapon Systems. DRDO’s black box o DRDO has developed an ejectable black box for planes which will eject from an aircraft when it sinks after an accident & will get activated after coming in contact with water. o It is Developed as part of Make in India initiative, is aimed for use on planes & submarines. o It can help in situations like AN32 crash where in spite of using deep-sea probes, authorities were not able to trace debris Indian Army participates in tank race o Indian Army team participated in a tank race competition in Russia along with groups from several countries. o Tank Biathlon commenced at Alabino Ranges on 29 July, Indian Army participated in it with T-90 tanks. It is for the 1st time team would be participating with own T-90 tanks. o It is an international event conducted as part of International Army Games held every year since 2013 in Russia.
India & The World
10th India-EU Counter Terrorism Dialogue o 10th India-European Union Counter Terrorism Dialogue was held at New Delhi
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o Both sides strongly condemned terrorism in all its forms & manifestations and underscored the need for deepening cooperation to combat terrorism in a sustained & comprehensive manner o Prospects for deepening counter-terrorism cooperation under UN & FATF were emphasised o Next Dialogue will take place in Brussels in 2018 Modi to attend BRICS summit in China o Prime Minister Narendra Modi will travel to Xiamen in China to attend the BRICS summit which will be held from September 3-5. o The announcement comes a day after India and China ended their 73-day standoff in Dokalam by withdrawing their troops from the area. o Modi will also travel to Myanmar for a state visit, It will be Modi's first bilateral state visit to Myanmar. Ocean forecasting system unveiled o Indian National Centre for Ocean Information Services inaugurated Ocean Forecasting System for Comoros, Madagascar & Mozambique. o It was unveiled at 3rd Ministerial Meeting of Regional Integrated Multi- Hazard Early Warning System for Asia & Africa. o The system would offer oil spill advisory services, port warnings, forecast along the ship routes in addition to tsunami and storm surge warnings. Indian Ocean Conference o External Affairs Minister Sushma Swaraj will travel to Colombo to participate in the two-day Indian Ocean Conference to be held from August 31. o It will see participation from around 35 countries and have speakers from 25 countries. o The theme of the conference is peace, progress and prosperity o This will be second IOC conference. The first was held in Singapore last year. 103 | P a g e
Foreign and Security Policy talks o The 5th round of Foreign and Security Policy Consultations between India and the European Union was held in New Delhi. o The 2 sides reviewed the entire gamut of India-EU Strategic Partnership and discussed ways to further deepen cooperation in political, economic & security areas. o EU is one of India's largest trading partners with bilateral trade in goods standing at USD 85 billion in 2016. Rajnath Singh to attend SCO meet o Union Home Minister Rajnath Singh will attend Shanghai Cooperation Organization meet at Choplon Ata in Kyrgyz Republic o The two-day meeting of heads of Govts of SCO Member States will focus on prevention & elimination of emergency situations o India was formally inducted as the newest members of Shanghai Cooperation Organisation earlier this year in the 1st-ever expansion of the 6 member group India, Nepal ink eight pacts o India & Nepal have inked 8 pacts, including on cooperation in countering drug trafficking o Pacts were signed after comprehensive talks b/w PM Modi & Sher Bahadur Deuba on strategic bilateral & regional issues. o The two leaders jointly inaugurated Kataiya-Kusaha & Raxaul-Parwanipur cross-border power transmission lines. o This is Deuba first foreign trip after assuming office in June this year. 1st Meeting of experts & official of PDA o First meeting of team of experts & officials of Pancheshwar Development Authority has begun at Kathmandu. o Pancheswar Development Authority was set up in Aug 2014 to develop, execute & operate Pancheshwar project on Mahakali river in Nepal. 104 | P a g e
o India & Nepal had signed Mahakali Treaty in 1996 for development of Pancheshwar Multipurpose Project. It is expected to produce around 5000 MW electricity Indians top H-1B visa seekers o With 2.47 lakh applications, Indians continued to be largest group of H-1B visa aspirants during first nine months of the current US financial year. o Indians were top H-1B visa seekers followed by Chinese and Philippines. o The technology sector continues to dominate H-1B visa applications. o No. of Indians applying for H-1B has increased by 80.6% since 2006-07 to stand at 3 lakh in 2015-16. BRICS think tanks to enhance exchanges o 5 think tanks from BRICS countries has signed a memorandum to begin exchanges & conduct joint research o Memorandum was signed on sidelines of seminar on BRICS governance in Fujian province prior to 9th BRICS Summit to be held in China o According to the deal, the 5 will share research information, arrange exchanges b/w researchers & hold joint research every year on mutually- interested topics India, Japan resolve to boost ties o 2nd Japan-India Cyber Dialogue, held in New Delhi saw discussions on domestic cyber policy landscape, cyber threats & mitigation. o India & Japan resolved to strengthen their cooperation in field of cyberspace & reaffirmed their commitment to open, secure & accessible cyberspace, enabling economic growth & innovation. o Both sides agreed to hold next Japan-India Cyber dialogue in Tokyo in 2018. US, Japan Boost Defence Cooperation o US & Japan have agreed to advance their multilateral security & defence cooperation with countries like India, South Korea & Australia. 105 | P a g e
o Cooperation with other nations will help in employing diplomatic & economic pressure on North Korea to end its nuclear & ballistic missile program. o Officials have encouraged China to take decisive measures to urge North Korea to change its course of action. Cabinet clears India, Sweden MoU o Union Cabinet has cleared MoU signing b/w India & Sweden on intellectual property right cooperation, aimed at benefiting entrepreneurs, investors & businesses. o This will enable India to exchange experiences in innovation and IP ecosystems. o MoU will also cover cooperation in automation & modernisation projects, new documentation & information system in IP and procedures for management of IP. India moves to revive TAPI gas pipeline o India will host the next steering committee meeting of proposed 1,814km long Turkmenistan-Afghanistan-Pakistan-India (TAPI) gas pipeline. o Decision came during the 6th joint Inter-Governmental Committee meeting on trade, economic, scientific and technological cooperation. o The pipeline will transport Caspian Sea natural gas from Turkmenistan through Afghanistan into Pakistan and then to India. India’s real GDP to average at 7.4% o According to Deutsche Bank report, India’s growth momentum will get stronger with revival in private investment cycle. o Real GDP growth is expected to average at about 7.4% over 2017 & 2018. o It also termed India as one of the fastest growing economies in the world. o India lost the tag of the fastest growing major economy to China in the March quarter. Ind-China to join Indian Ocean exercise 106 | P a g e
o Indian Navy would join the People’s Liberation Army Navy in a maiden maritime search and rescue exercise at the Indian Ocean Naval Symposium in November. o The IONS is a regional forum of Indian Ocean littoral states, represented by their Navy chiefs, launched by India in February 2008. o The exercise will be held in November 2017 in the Bay of Bengal under the chairmanship of Bangladesh. Ministerial Meeting of BIMSTEC Concludes o The 15th Ministerial Meeting of BIMSTEC was concluded at Kathmandu, Nepal. o Members agreed to emphasise the need for greater cooperation in trade & investment in order to deepen regional integration in Bay of Bengal region. o They also welcomed launch of BIMSTEC Tele-medicine Network by JIPMER India to strengthen collaboration among premier medical institutions in the region. Most open economies globally for FDI o According to Economic Survey India has emerged as one of the most open economies in the world for receiving FDI. o Measures taken by govt have resulted in FDI equity inflow of $43.4bn in 2016-17, which is 8% higher as compared to the previous year, also the highest ever. o Services sector received the highest FDI equity inflows followed by Telecommunications & computer software and hardware. Global Entrepreneurship Summit o India and US will co-host Global Entrepreneurship Summit at Hyderabad from November 28 this year. o The American delegation will be led by US President Donald Trump's daughter Ivanka Trump. 107 | P a g e
o The Summit is a unique opportunity for bringing together entrepreneurs and start-ups with global leader. o The event is being organised by the NITI Aayog in coordination with Ministry of External Affairs. Worst place for retirement o According to a global survey India is the worst place for retirement, In a global retirement index of 43 countries, India ranked the lowest o India has same score compared to last year with all its sub-indices in bottom 5 o Switzerland, Norway & Iceland topped the ranking while India stood at bottom among BRIC nations o India has worst scores for happiness, water & air quality among GRI countries India-ASEAN Youth Summit in Bhopal o Over 100 delegates from 10 ASEAN countries will participate in the India- ASEAN Youth Summit to be held in Bhopal from August 14-19. o The exercise will mark the 25th anniversary of ASEAN-India dialogue partnership in the ongoing year and also the commemorative year's theme of "Shared Values, Common Destiny". o The summit will also have participation of 75 youth leaders from India. 2nd commitment period of Kyoto Protocol o India has ratified 2nd commitment period of Kyoto Protocol that commits countries to contain emission of greenhouse gases, reaffirming its stand on climate action. o With this, India became the 80th country to accept the amendment relating to the second commitment period of the Kyoto Protocol. o Kyoto Protocol was adopted in Kyoto, Japan, in December 1997 and entered into force in February 2005. Chabahar Port to start by 2018 108 | P a g e
o According to Nitin Gadkari the strategic Chabahar Port will be operational by 2018. o As per an MoU signed, India is to equip & operate 2 berths in Chabahar Port Phase-I with capital investment of $85.21 million & annual revenue expenditure of $22.95 million on a 10-year lease. o Located in southeastern Iran in the Gulf of Oman Chabahar is the only Iranian port with direct access to the ocean. Switzerland finds data laws adequate o Switzerland has found India’s data security & confidentiality laws adequate for entering into an automatic exchange of information pact. o It will open access to details about alleged black money hoarders in once all-secret Swiss banks. o Federal Council in June ratified automatic exchange of account information with India to facilitate immediate sharing of details about suspected black money. Royal Edinburgh Military Tattoo o Indian Navy band has joined Royal Edinburgh Military Tattoo in UK for musical event where they will mark 70th year of India’s Independence. o Indian Band with an array of colourful dancers, comprises 1 officer & 65 musician who will perform under baton of Commander Vijay Charles D’Cruz. o This year's theme is Splash of Tartan, celebrating Scotland’s Year of History, Heritage & Archaeology. First meeting of JICF o The first meeting of Japan-India Coordination Forum for Development of North-Eastern Region was held in New Delhi. o Secretary, Ministry of Development of North-Eastern Region Naveen Verma led Indian side while Japanese delegation was led by Japanese Ambassador to India, Kenji Hiramatsu. 109 | P a g e
o Road Network Development, Disaster Management; Organic Farming and Tourism were discussed in the meeting. BRICS Agriculture Research Platform o Cabinet has approved a MoU b/w India & BRICs countries to set up BRICS Agriculture Research Platform. o Proposal was presented by PM Modi to establish BRICS Agriculture Research Centre during 7th BRICS Summit in Russia. o BRICS-ARP will be the global platform for science-led agriculture-based sustainable development for addressing issues of world hunger, under- nutrition and poverty among others. MOU between India and Spain o Union Cabinet has been apprised of the pact signed b/w India & Spain on cooperation in the renewable energy sector. o MoU will help in strengthening bilateral cooperation between the 2 countries with the exchange of expertise and networking of information. o The pact envisages establishing a Joint Working Committee in order to review, monitor and discuss matters related to areas of cooperation. India, Japan join hands for infra push o Japan has joined hands with India to aggressively develop infrastructure projects in northeastern states. o An India-Japan Coordination Forum for Development of North East is being set up to focus on strategic projects such as connectivity, road network development, electricity & disaster management. o Japan has been helping India with projects such as Mumbai-Ahmedabad high-speed corridor. Meeting of BRICS Trade Ministers o The 7th Meeting of BRICS Trade Ministers was held in Shanghai to fight protectionism and safeguard intellectual property rights.
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o The ministers also approved guidelines for cooperation between the five countries on intellectual property rights. o Ministers agreed to deepen trade and investment links, and "safeguard and develop" the multilateral trading system. Home to 39% of young Internet users o According to a UN report, India and China are home to 39% of the 830 million young people worldwide who use the Internet. o The ITU's ICT Facts and Figures 2017 also shows a significant increase in broadband access and subscriptions with China leading the way. o The report was released by International Telecommunication Union, UN's specialized agency for Information & Communication Technologies. India gets permission from World Bank o World Bank has allowed India to construct hydroelectric power facilities on tributaries of Jhelum & Chenab rivers with certain restrictions under 1960 Indus Waters Treaty. o World Bank’s comments came as officials from India Pakistan concluded secretary-level talks over IWT. o The 2 countries disagree over whether the technical design features of the 2 hydroelectric plants contravene the treaty. India and Somalia sign agreement o India & Somalia have signed a bilateral agreement for transfer of sentenced persons, deepening humanitarian cooperation b/w 2 countries. o It will help Indians imprisoned in Somalia or vice versa be near their families while serving remainder of their sentence & also facilitate their social rehabilitation. o Agreement was signed b/w Sushma Swaraj & Foreign Minister of Somalia Yusuf Garaad Omar. India-Bhutan pact come into force 111 | P a g e
o New agreement on trade, commerce and transit between India and Bhutan has come into force from July 29. o The agreement provides for a free trade regime between the territories of India and Bhutan. It also provides for duty-free transit of Bhutanese merchandise for trade with third countries. o The bilateral trade relations between India and Bhutan are governed by this pact.
Resignations & Appointments
Dipak Misra sworn in as CJI o Justice Dipak Misra was sworn in as the 45th Chief Justice of India. o He is succeeding Justice JS Khehar, who retired as CJI on August 27. o Chief Justice Misra will retire on October 2, 2018. o He was administered the oath of office by President Ram Nath Kovind Dharmendra Kumar appointed as DG, RPF o CISF ADG Dharmendra Kumar has been appointed as director general of the Railway Protection Force. o Kumar is a 1984 batch IPS officer of Arunachal Pradesh-Goa-Mizoram- Union Territories (AGMUT) cadre. o Before being appointed additional director general (ADG), Central Industrial Security Force (CISF), Kumar was serving as special commissioner (Special Unit) in the Delhi Police.
Places in News
Atomic Fuel Reserve in Kazakhstan o International Atomic Energy Agency's Low Enriched Uranium Bank is all set to open this week in Kazakhstan. 112 | P a g e
o The reserve is a "mechanism of last resort" for situations in which a UN member nation cannot access fuel by the usual means. o The reserve will store 90 tons of low-enriched uranium, the essential ingredient needed to make the fuel for light-water nuclear reactors. J-K govt to setup Eco-Park o Jammu and Kashmir govt has decided to build an Eco-Park on over 34 acres of land reclaimed from encroachers in the state's Rajouri district. o Park is a first-of-its-kind project in the region and will have a botanical garden, a cactus garden, a cafeteria and other amenities. o The project has been planned under convergence of local resources & it is expected to be completed by end of this year First 100 % computer literate village o Manipur's Nungthaang Tampak village has emerged as the '100 percent computer literate' village in the entire North East. o It is also India's second 100% computer literate village in India. Kerala's Chamravattom village is the country's first 100% computer literate village. o The computer course, which is affiliated to AISECT, was organised by Mangal Rural as a part of Digital India program. World's most liveable city o Melbourne has been declared the most liveable city in the world for 7th year running by Economist’s annual global liveability survey. o Melbourne scored 97.5 out of 100, pipping Vienna for the top spot, after scoring strong marks for healthcare, education & infrastructure. o Melbourne's relatively low crime rate was as one of the main reasons it outranked other high-performing cities. India to open first Partition museum o A museum based on partition of the Indian subcontinent is set to open in Amritsar.
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o It will feature photographs, newspaper clippings & personal items showcasing struggle for freedom & violence that followed during the partition of the country. o Museum is a nonprofit trust that has raised money from individuals & companies including Airtel & Hindustan Times, Punjab govt has donated the space. World Congress of Optometry o 2nd World Congress of Optometry is going to be held in Hyderabad during Sep 11-13. o World's visually impaired will be the subject of some serious discussions at the world congress. o The conference theme is 'Accessible, quality vision and eye health'. o It ties into WHO's Universal eye health: A global action plan which aims to reduce prevalence of avoidable visual impairment by 25% by 2017. First-ever Freedom Run in London o Members of Indian diaspora in UK took part in 1st ever Freedom Run to mark India's 71st Independence Day. o The run Started from Mahatma Gandhi's statue at Parliament Square to India House to commemorate this historic occasion. o Event organised by Indian High Commission in London aimed at bringing together Indian community from across Britain to commemorate 70th anniversary of Independence. Earth's Largest Volcanic Region o Largest volcanic region on Earth, with nearly 100 volcanoes, has been discovered 2 km below the surface of vast ice sheet in west Antarctica. o These newly discovered volcanoes range in height from 100 to 3,850 metres, with the highest almost as tall as Switzerland's 3,970 metres Eiger mountain.
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o If one of these volcanoes were to erupt it could further destabilise west Antarctica's ice sheets Lord Krishna-themed coin to be released o A limited edition silver coin on Lord Krishna will be released on Janmashtami on August 15 by Republic of Chad in commemoration of 5,244th birth anniversary of the Hindu God. o This full-dimensional 3D coin weighs 100 grams and has been made of pure silver. The coin is designed by Alok K Goyal. o The initiative was taken seeing the popularity of Indian art and culture. World's fastest mobile internet o According to leader in broadband testing Ookla, Norway has the fastest mobile Internet in the world. o Average Internet speed of Norwegians' mobile phones has increased by 69% during last year & has speed of 52.6 MiB/s. o In only 13 months, Norway has jumped from 11th to 1st place on list of world best providers of fast Internet connection. o Netherlands & Hungary are ranked no. 2 & 3 on the list India's first disaster village o India's first 'Railways disaster management village' is expected to come up on the outskirts of Bengaluru by December next year. o The village, about 25 km from Bengaluru, will also have a virtual reality centre for analysis of railway accidents. o Overaged rolling stock will be used to replicate train accidents so that real time rescue operations could be carried out to improve such efforts. Qatar scraps visit visa requirements o Qatar has scrapped visa requirements for visitors from 80 countries including India to host Football World Cup 2022. o Citizens of 33 European countries can enter without visa for 90 days in single or multiple trips during a 180-day period. 115 | P a g e
o Qatar's economy has taken a hit since Saudi Arabia, UAE, Egypt & Bahrain moved to isolate it. o It will be the 1st time World Cup will be held in West Asia. IIT Delhi launches day care facility o IIT Delhi campus has recently launched a day care facility to support researchers & faculty. o As many as 40 kids can be admitted at the centre, it is open for children of 18 months till 8 years of age. o Centre will be operational from 9.30 am to 6.30 pm & is divided into 3 slots. o Curriculum centers around social & emotional development, cognitive development & developing creative arts. Indian cities to grow the fastest o According to a new study from Oxford Economics, Indian cities are set to expand the most across Asia, with growth speeding up from past 5 years. o Delhi will have fastest growth of any city in Asia, with the economy to be almost 50% larger in 2021 than it was at the end of last year. o Delhi’s dominance in financial and business services will lead to higher growth and higher incomes. Govt nod to rename Mughalsarai station o Centre has approved a proposal to rename Mughalsarai railway station in Uttar Pradesh after RSS ideologue Deen Dayal Upadhyaya. o The proposal was given by the BJP government in Uttar Pradesh in a bid to revive the legacy of Upadhyaya, who died in 1968 at the junction itself. o The junction, the fourth busiest railway station in the country, is located on the main Howrah-Delhi Grand Chord line.
Person in News
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Bridgestone India ropes in PV Sindhu o Bridgestone India has announced Olympic silver medallist P V Sindhu as its 1st brand ambassador o As part of the 3 year agreement, Sindhu will be included in Bridgestone’s activations around its Worldwide Olympic Partnership o Sindhu’s journey is an epitome of perseverance & is a setting example to youth to ‘Chase Your Dream’ which echoes with Bridgestone’s global association with Olympic Games Indian Boy gets top score in Mensa IQ o A 13-year-old Indian-origin boy, Dhruv Garg in the UK has got the highest possible score of 162 on a Mensa IQ test. o This score qualifies him amongst the rare one per cent of the population who take the Mensa exam worldwide in both the exams. o He also scored in the highest mark in the second test, known as the Culture Fair scale, getting 152. Sunil Sanghai resigns o HSBC India’s vice chairman and investment banking head Sunil Sanghai quit British banking giant. o Sanghai has joined hands with the Dinesh Kanabar-promoted tax & regulatory firm Dhruva Advisors to start a merchant banking division. o Before joining HSBC, Sanghai worked as Goldman Sachs’ managing director & co- head for investment banking & also has had stints with Morgan Stanley & JM Financial. Tobe Hooper passes away o Tobe Hooper, best known for his work in the horror film genre, passed away at the age of 74. o He rose to prominence after his 1974 fantasy thriller "The Texas Chainsaw Massacre."
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o He continued working in television and film throughout the 1990s and 2000s. o He made his directorial debut with the movie, "Eggshells" in 1969. Uber chooses new CEO o Uber has chosen Expedia CEO Dara Khosrowshahi as its new CEO. o The embattled ride-hailing startup has been without a CEO since founder and former CEO Travis Kalanick resigned in June. o Khosrowshahi was not among those reported to have been in the running. The short list included Jeff Immelt, the former CEO of General Electric, and Meg Whitman, the head of Hewlett Packard Enterprise. Samsung heir Lee Jae-yong jailed o A court in South Korea has found Lee Jae-yong, Vice chairman & de facto head of Samsung, guilty of corruption & has sentenced him to 5 years in prison. o He was convicted of bribery in a scandal that also saw impeachment of South Korea's former president. o Prosecutors alleged that Lee paid millions of dollars to Park in an attempt to cement control of world's leading smartphone & chip maker. LinkedIn Power Profiles List of 2017 o PM Modi & Priyanka Chopra have found a spot in LinkedIn Power Profiles List of 2017. o Through the list, LinkedIn recognises 50 such professionals, who have successfully invested in building their professional brand on the platform. o Modi with his 2.2 million followers on the platform, is a 3rd time return to the list. o Other influencers are Kailash Satyarthi, Shashi Tharoor & Manu Kumar Jain. Highest paid actors
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o Forbes has released its list of world's 20 highest paid actors of 2017 featuring 3 Indian actors - Shahrukh Khan, Salman Khan & Akshay Kumar among top 10. o The list is topped by Hollywood star Mark Wahlberg with earning of $68 mn. o Wahlberg replaced last year's top-ranked star, Dwayne Johnson who comes in at the 2nd spot with $65 mn earnings while Vin Diesel with $54.5 mn got the 3rd spot. Aryaman creates golf history o 10 year-old golfer, Aryaman Singh wrapped up the season on a high note, blazing his way through the first five events of the Indian Golf Union-West Zone. o Singh remains undefeated at the zonal level for four years, winning every tournament he has played. o His winning streak now extends to 1,266 days, which is the longest in the history of junior golf in India. Uber India appoints Vishpala as CPO o Uber has roped in former American Express executive Vishpala Reddy as the chief people’s officer for its India & South Asia operations. o Prior to joining Uber, Vishpala was Vice-President & Head of HR for American Express in India. She has also worked with Hewitt Associates as a senior consultant. o For Uber, India is one of its largest markets outside US & has witnessed over 100% YoY growth. Jerry Lewis passes away o Jerry Lewis, the slapstick-loving comedian, innovative filmmaker died after a brief illness.
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o One of the most popular comic actors of 1950s & '60s, Lewis perfected the role of quirky clown but also won acclaim as a writer, actor & philanthropist in a career spanning 6 decades. o He became highest-paid actor in Hollywood, chalking up hits such as The Bell Boy, Cinderfella & The Nutty Professor. Rahul Doshi crowned 'Child Genius' o Indian-origin boy has been crowned as the UKs Child Genius in a popular television quiz competition. o Rahul Doshi won the show 'Child Genius' by beating his opponent 10-4 in the finale. o He clinched the title by answering a question on 19th Century artists William Holman Hunt and John Everett Millais. o Rahul is a member of Mensa club & is believed to have a higher IQ than Albert Einstein. Dick Gregory dies o Dick Gregory, the legendary comedian and civil rights activist passed away. o From the 1960s Gregory mocked racism in his stand-up routines. He was among the first US black comedian to perform regularly in front of white audiences. o Gregory was also involved in a number of civil rights activities in the 1960s. He campaigned against the Vietnam War and his protests often involved hunger strikes. Malala Yousafzai to study at Oxford o Nobel laureate Malala Yousafzai has gained a place in the University of Oxford. o She will study philosophy, politics and economics at the prestigious university.
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o She is a Pakistani activist for female education & the youngest-ever Nobel Prize laureate. o She won international renown in 2012 after she was shot by a Taliban gunman in Pakistan for speaking out for right of girls to go to school. Russia's New Envoy To India o Career diplomat Nikolay Kudashev has been appointed as Russia's new ambassador to India. o Appointment of Kudashev comes nearly 7 months after death of Russia's previous ambassador to India Alexander Kadakin. o Kudashev, a specialist in South East Asia is currently Deputy Director General Secretariat of Ministry of foreign Affairs of Russia. First Tamil navy chief since 1970 o Sri Lanka's President Maithripala Sirisena appointed an officer from Tamil minority to head the navy for the first time since a separatist war erupted 45 years ago. o Rear-Admiral Travis Sinniah is the first Tamil to head a wing of the military since 1970. o He played a decisive role in the destruction of the LTTE warships in deep sea during the height of the civil war. Infosys CEO Vishal Sikka resigns o Infosys chief executive officer Vishal Sikka resigned after being at the helm for a little more than 3 years. o Sikka was the first non-founder CEO of Infosys who took charge in 2014 and he will now be succeeded by chief operating officer Pravin Rao, who will be interim-MD and CEO. o After Vishal Sikka's abrupt resignation as CEO, Infosys shares plunged by 13% to a 52-week low. Fortune’s Annual ‘40 Under 40’ List
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o 5 Indian-origin persons, including Irish Prime Minister Leo Varadkar, have featured in Fortune's annual list of 40 young and influential people in the field of business inspiring others with their work. o Indian-origin persons who are included in the list are Divya Nag, Rishi Shah, Shradha Agarwal, Leila Janah, and Leo Varadkar. o The list has been topped by French President Emmanuel Macron. Mahmood Takes Charge as Pak’s High Comm o Sohail Mahmood has assumed the charge of Pakistan’s High Commissioner to India in New Delhi. o One of the senior-most officers of the Pakistan Foreign Service, he succeeds career diplomat Abdul Basit, who served as the country's envoy for 4 years. o He has wide experience in the diplomatic service having served in various Pakistan missions abroad including Washington and New York. GM India appoints Sanjiv Gupta o General Motors India has announced the appointment of Sanjiv Gupta as the new President and Managing Director of the company. o The current President & MD Kaher Kazem will hand over the reins of the company to Gupta. Kazem has been appointed as the President and CEO of GM Korea. o Gupta will combine his role as GM India president and Managing Director with his finance leadership responsibilities Mamta Suri takes charge as ED o Dr. Mamta Suri has taken charge as Executive Director, Insolvency and Bankruptcy Board of India. o Before joining IBBI, Dr. Suri was serving as Chief General Manager, Insurance Regulatory Development Authority of India.
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o IBBI is the regulator for overseeing insolvency proceedings and entities like Insolvency Professional Agencies, Insolvency Professionals & Information Utilities in India. Veteran photographer S Paul dies at 88 o Veteran photographer S Paul died in New Delhi at the age of 88. o Paul received recognition & fame as a professional photographer when his pictures were selected for publication in 3 renowned British publications - Amateur Photographer, Miniature Camera and Miniature Camera World. o He was the first Indian to be profiled by The British Journal of Photography in 1967. Motorcyclist creates world record o A motorcyclist who rode through storms and across deserts has set a new world record. o Kane Avellano from South Shields, has officially become the youngest person to circumnavigate the world solo by motorcycle according to the Guinness World Records. o The 28,000-mile (45,000km) trip took Mr Avellano and his Triumph Bonneville just under eight months. Forbes 2017's highest paid actresses o Deepika Padukone has dropped out of Forbes magazines World's Highest- Paid Actresses 2017 list, which is led by Hollywood actress Emma Stone. o Stone collected $26 million due to her Oscar-winning performance in musical film "La La Land" and has surpassed Jennifer Lawrence, who claimed the top spot in 2016 and 2015. o Jennifer Aniston was runner-up with $25.5 million. Goyal gets 1 year extension as ITPO CMD o Tenure of L C Goyal as Chairman and MD of India Trade Promotion Organisation has been extended by 1 year.
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o Appointments Committee of the Cabinet has approved the extension for a period of 1 year, beyond Sep 1, 2017. o He is a 1979-batch IAS officer of Karnataka cadre & has served as Home Secretary. o ITPO is nodal trade promotion agency of govt & functions under supervision of commerce ministry. Sankara Rao to be IFCI Chief Executive o IFCI is set to have a new Managing Director & CEO in E Sankara Rao. o He is currently a director and chief executive officer at IIFCL Asset Management Company. o Appointments Committee of Cabinet has given its nod for Department of Financial Services proposal to appoint Emandi Sankara Rao as Managing Director & Chief Executive Officer of IFCI. o Rao’s appointment will be valid for three years. President Uhuru Kenyatta wins 2nd term o Kenya's President Uhuru Kenyatta has been re-elected, defeating opposition leader & longtime rival Raila Odinga in a tense contest. o Kenyatta garnered 54.27% of the final vote while Odinga received 44.74%. o Opposition rejected results even before they were declared, calling the process a "charade" o Protests in several opposition strongholds erupted shortly after Kenyatta’s victory was declared Vempati given additional charge of RSTV o Shashi Shekhar Vempati, chief executive officer of public broadcaster Prasar Bharati has been appointed as the chief of Rajya Sabha TV. o Vempati will replace Gurdeep Singh Sappal who has been serving as the CEO and editor-in-chief of Rajya Sabha TV since 2011. o Rajya Sabha TV is owned and operated by Rajya Sabha and covers the proceedings of the upper house of the Parliament. 124 | P a g e
Vidya Balan to be part of CBFC o National Award-winning actress Vidya Balan has been appointed as part of the reconstituted Central Board of Film Certification, to be now chaired by writer Prasoon Joshi. o The CBFC has been reconstituted for a period of three years or until further orders, whichever is earlier. o Vidya is joined by Gautami Tadimalla, Narendra Kohli, Neil Herbert Nongkynrih, Vivek Agnihotri among others. David Rasquinha appointed Exim Bank MD o David Rasquinha has been appointed as the managing director of Export- Import Bank of India. o The Appointments Committee of the Cabinet has approved his appointment to the post for three years. o Rasquinha is at present Deputy Managing Director of Export-Import Bank Bank. Asbe appointed as the chief executive o National Payments Corporation of India has appointed Dilip Asbe, its chief operating officer, to act as its chief executive officer. o This comes in wake of retirement of A. P. Hota, its founding managing director. o Asbe joined NPCI as its first employee in 2010 as its CTO & was elevated to position of COO in 2013. o Asbe is well known to be one of the driving forces behind UPI, BHIM, IMPS. Milkha Singh appointed WHO ambassador o Sprint legend Milkha Singh has been appointed as World Health Organisation’s goodwill ambassador for physical activity in South-East Asia Region.
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o As goodwill ambassador he will promote WHO SEAR’s non-communicable diseases prevention & control action plan. o With support of Milkha Singh WHO expects to promote & scale up physical activity in the region to be able to arrest & reverse NCD epidemic Vijay Nambisan passes away o Poet and writer Vijay Nambisan, who became the first All India Poetry Champion in 1988, passed away on August 10. o He championed the ethical use of language and made an appeal to readers, writers and enthusiasts of literature in his book ‘Language as an Ethic’. o He translated devotional poems of various authors for which he was awarded in 2008. Pakistan's 'Mother Teresa' dies o German-born nun Ruth Pfau, who devoted her life to eradicating leprosy in Pakistan died in southern city of Karachi. o Widely known as Pakistan's Mother Teresa, Pfau witnessed leprosy in Pakistan for the first time in 1960 & returned to set up clinics across the country. o She founded Marie Adelaide Leprosy Centre in Karachi, Pakistan's 1st hospital dedicated to treating the disease. Vinay Dube joins Jet Airways as CEO o Vinay Dube has joined as the CEO of Jet Airways after receipt of all requisite govt & regulatory approvals. o He has served in various roles at Delta, Sabre & American Airlines in USA, Europe & Asia. o Under his leadership airline would accelerate momentum of turning around the company & deepen relationship with Etihad Airways. o Jet has been without a full-time CEO since Ball quit in 2016. Sushma Swaraj to attend BIMSTEC meeting
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o External Affairs Minister Sushma Swaraj will depart for Kathmandu to participate in 15th BIMSTEC Ministerial Meeting. o During the 2 day meet, Foreign ministers of BIMSTEC countries will review progress in identified 14 areas of cooperation & discuss ways to accelerate cooperation. o BIMSTEC is an international organisation involving a group of countries in South Asia & South East Asia. Sitaram Panchal passes away o Bollywood actor Sitaram Panchal passed away after a 3 year long battle with kidney & lung cancer. o Sitaram, who made his Bollywood debut in 1994 with Bandit Queen, was best known for his work in films like Peepli Live, Pan Singh Tomar and Slumdog Millionaire. o He had recently taken to his Facebook account asking for monetary help in order to afford proper treatment for kidney and lung cancer Deputy Comptroller for Minority Affairs o Indian-American Dilip Chauhan has been named as Deputy Comptroller for Minority Affairs by Nassau County Comptroller George Maragos. o He joined Comptroller's office in 2015 as Director for Community Affairs, South & East Asia and has served as senior advisor to Comptroller since 2017. o Chauhan was lauded for his efforts in helping resolve governmental issues faced by minority constituents. Sanwar Lal Jat passes away o BJP's Member of Parliament from Ajmer and former Union minister Prof Sanwar Lal Jat passed away in New Delhi. o He was member of the Rajasthan Legislative Assembly for five terms. He also served as Minister in the Rajasthan Government thrice.
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o He served as Union Minister of State for Water Resources, River Development and Ganga Rejuvenation till July last year. Dipak Misra to be next Chief Justice o Justice Dipak Misra has been appointed as the 45th Chief Justice of India. He was nominated by present CJI JS Khehar last month. o He is known for the judgment on Yakub Memon who made a last minute attempt to escape the gallows. He had rejected his plea for a stay on the death warrant. o He is the 3rd from Odisha after Justices Ranganath Misra & G B Pattanaik to become CJIs. CureFit signs Hrithik Roshan o Health & wellness startup CureFit has signed actor Hrithik Roshan as the brand ambassador for 5 years at Rs100 crore. o It is said to be one of the largest endorsement deals signed by an Indian startup. o Company plans to introduce HRX workout plan across all CureFit-run Cult fitness centres and on the mobile app, which is expected to rake in Rs250cr annual business in the next couple of years. Kerala HC lifts life ban on Sreesanth o Kerala High Court has lifted the ban imposed by BCCI on S Sreesanth for his involvement in spot fixing scandal in IPL. o He was banned in 2013 for his alleged spot fixing in IPL & was charged alongside 2 of his Rajasthan Royals teammates, Ajit Chandila & Ankeet Chavan. o Challenging the ban, Sreesanth had contended at the high court that not lifting the ban violated his constitutional rights. Naidu elected as Vice President o Senior BJP leader & former Union minister M Venkaiah Naidu was elected as the 13th Vice-President of India. 128 | P a g e
o He defeated Mahatma Gandhi’s grandson Gopalkrishna Gandhi by 272 votes. Naidu, the NDA candidate won by largest margin in 30 years in a vice presidential election that had the highest polling ever. o He will replace Hamid Ansari, who is completing his 2nd term in office on August 10. New NITI Aayog Vice-Chairman o Noted economist Rajiv Kumar has been named as the next Vice-Chairman of NITI Aayog, think-tank that replaced Planning Commission. o He will succeed Arvind Panagariya, who had recently quit as Vice Chairman of Niti Aayog. o Earlier, he was Secretary General of FICCI and has also served as Director and Chief Executive of ICRIER. o He was a member of National Security Advisory Board b/w 2006 & 2008. Aparna appointed as Executive Director o S. Aparna, an IAS officer from Gujarat cadre has been appointed as Executive Director, World Bank to represent constituency of India, Bangladesh, Bhutan & Sri Lanka for 3 years. o The Appointments Committee of the Cabinet headed by Prime Minister Narendra Modi cleared her name for the position. o She will replace Subhash Garg, who was appointed Economic Affairs Secretary, Ministry of Finance. Pak gets 1st full-time Foreign Minister o Khawaja Asif has been appointed as the Pakistan's new Foreign Minister, the first full-time leader to hold the post since the party came to power in 2013. o Nawaz Sharif retained the foreign affairs portfolio, the job was handled by Sartaj Aziz, who was adviser on foreign affairs. o Khawaja Asif a former banker, earlier held the defence and power ministries. 129 | P a g e
Paul Kagame wins third term o Paul Kagame, controversial president of Rwanda has won a landslide victory securing 99% votes & 3rd term in office, extending his 17 years in power. o Result gives him another 7 years leading the nation praised for its economic performance but criticised for its silencing of opponents. o He won international praise for stability & economic development he brought in Rwanda since the 1994 genocide Ambassador for UP’s cleanliness mission o Actor Akshay Kumar has been appointed as the brand ambassador of ‘Clean UP mission’ by chief minister Yogi Adityanath. o He promised to proactively work towards making UP the open defecation free state, a cause in line with the theme of his upcoming movie Toilet Ek Prem Katha. o The state government aims to make Uttar Pradesh open defecation free by October 2, 2018. Pak cabinet gets first Hindu minister o For the first time in 20 years, a Hindu has been inducted in Pakistan Cabinet. o Darshan Lal, who is a practising doctor has been named as Interprovincial Coordination Minister. He would be responsible for heading the coordination between four Pakistani provinces. o He was elected to the national assembly for the second time on PML-N ticket on a reserved seat for minorities in 2013. Rouhani sworn in for second term o Iran's President Hassan Rouhani has been officially sworn in for 2nd term. o He won a convincing victory over his opponent Ebrahim Raisi in May, vowing to continue his efforts to rebuild ties with West.
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o Under Rouhani, Iran emerged from international isolation in 2015 when it struck a deal with 6 world powers to curb its nuclear program in exchange for lifting of financial & economic sanctions. New Air Officer-in-charge Administration o Air Marshal Hemant Bhagwat has taken over as Air Officer-in-Charge Administration of Indian Air Force. o He served for 7 years as Air Traffic control Officer in 3 operational bases of IAF & is a qualified Parachute Jump Instructor & served in instructional capacity for 15 years o He is senior most active parachute jump instructor of IAF & was commissioned in Administrative branch of IAF in 1981. World's highest earning author o Harry Potter creator JK Rowling has been named the world's most highly- paid author by Forbes with earnings of $95m this year. o She defeated Dan Brown, Stephen King and John Grisham to top Forbes' list of the 10 highest earners in the global industry for the first time in almost 10 years. o Last year she made her screenwriting debut with a prequel movie, Fantastic Beasts And Where To Find Them. Mustafa appointed CMD of SIDBI o Mohammad Mustafa has been appointed as Chairman and Manging Director of Small Industries Development Bank of India. o The Appointments Committee of the cabinet has approved his appointment to the post for a period of three years. o He is a 1995 batch IAS officer of Uttar Pradesh cadre, is at present Joint Secretary in Department of Financial Services. Senate confirms Wray as new FBI director o The US Senate has overwhelmingly confirmed Christopher Wray as the man to lead the FBI. 131 | P a g e
o He will replace James Comey, who was abruptly fired by US President Donald Trump amid the investigation into Russian meddling in last year's presidential election. o Andrew McCabe has served as acting FBI director during the nearly three- month interim period. New secretary general of FICCI o Sanjaya Baru, who was media advisor to former PM Manmohan Singh, has been named new secretary general of the Federation of Indian Chambers of Commerce and Industry. o He will replace A Didar Singh and will assume the charge from September 1. o Singh, who is nearing completion as secretary general, would now be holding the position of the Principal Advisor to Ficci President from September 1. BSE appoints Swarup as new Chairman o Bombay Stock Exchange has appointed Dhirendra Swarup as its new Chairman. o Swarup, who was functioning in the capacity of a Public Interest Director with BSE replaces incumbent Sudhakar Rao. o He is former Chairman of PFRDA & has 40 years of experience across finance, budgeting & public debt management. o He has also served as Chairman of Cash & Debt Management Committee of RBI from 2000 to 2003 Abbasi elected as interim Pakistan PM o Pakistan's parliament has elected Shahid Abbasi as country's new PM, after Supreme Court disqualified Nawaz Sharif. o He secured 221 votes out of 341 seats in an election process that began in a secret ballot.
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o He is expected to hand over power to Shahbaz Sharif once the latter is elected to National Assembly in 6 weeks. o Shahbaz Sharif is the CM of Punjab & younger brother of Nawaz Sharif. Santosh Mohan Dev passes away o Former union minister and a one-time heavyweight Congress leader Santosh Mohan Dev died following a prolonged illness. o He was Union Minister for Heavy Industries & Public Enterprise in first UPA govt led by Dr Singh. o He was elected to Lok Sabha 7 times since 1980 - 5 times from Silchar & twice from Tripura. o He also served as MoS for communications from 1986-1988 & MoS for home b/w 1988-1989 Arvind Panagariya resigns o Arvind Panagariya has resigned as the vice-chairman of NITI Aayog. o He will return to academia in US & August 31 will be his last day in office. o He was 1st vice-chairman of NITI Aayog. o He has been chief economist of Asian Development Bank & professor of economics & co-director, Center for International Economics, University of Maryland. Ambani becomes Asia's 2nd richest person o Mukesh Ambani has surpassed Hong Kong business tycoon Li Ka-shing to become Asia’s second richest man. o Ambani’s total net worth stood at $35.2 billion making him the 19th richest person in the world as per Bloomberg Index. o He reached number 2 spot as investors rallied behind him after he launched the JioPhone. o Richest person in Asia remains Jack Ma with a total net worth of $43.7 billion. Ustad Sayeeduddin Dagar dies aged 78 133 | P a g e
o Ustad Hussain Sayeeduddin Dagar, maestro & custodian of Dhrupad tradition of Hindustani classical music and a member of eminent Dagar family, passed away aged 78 in Pune. o Known as ‘Saeed Bhai’, he was the youngest among the 8 famous Dagar brothers. o He had performed at some of the most prestigious venues and festivals in India & abroad, including Tansen Samaroh, Savai Gandharva to name a few. Garde named Cisco president for India o Cisco has named former Philips Healthcare executive, Sameer Garde as president for its India and Saarc operations. o Garde will be responsible for Cisco’s senior-level external engagement, including those with government and industry associations. o He succeeds Dinesh Malkani, who is leaving the company to pursue other opportunities. Vishwanathan to head supervisory depts o With retirement of S S Mundra, RBI redistributed portfolios among the remaining 3 deputy governors, under which NS Vishwanathan will be handling the supervision departments. o He will be in-charge of department of banking supervision, non-banking supervision & cooperative banking supervision. o Mundra, who was heading BOB before his superannuation had a 3 year term as deputy governor. Krishna named chief of eastern command o Lt. Gen. Abhay Krishna has been appointed as head of Army’s Eastern Command which guards a major part of Sino-India border including Sikkim sector. o He was heading Army’s South Western Command & has vast experience of Sikkim sector, he succeeds Lt. Gen. Praveen Bakshi. 134 | P a g e
o He is a gallantry award winner in counter insurgency operations in Manipur & commanded Rashtriya Rifles in Kashmir Valley.
Government Schemes and Policies
Madhyamik and Uchchtar Shiksha Kosh
o The Union cabinet approved the creation of a non-lapsable corpus fund for secondary and higher education. o The corpus—Madhyamik and Uchchtar Shiksha Kosh will have all the proceeds from the 1% cess the government collects under the ‘secondary and higher education cess’ which has been in place since 2007. o The fund will be akin to the Prarambhik Shiksha Kosh.
Environment
India has 27312 elephants o Preliminary results from the first ever synchronised all India Elephant Population Estimation pegs India’s Asian elephant population at 27312. o According to the report, released by the Ministry of Environment, Forests and Climate Change on Aug12, Karnataka has the highest number of elephants, followed by Assam & Kerala. o The survey was carried out by the Asian Nature Conservation Foundation 2016 as warmest year on record o Report compiled by US govt agency has confirmed that 2016 was the warmest year on record & the 3rd year in a row of record global warmth. o Heat was the result of long-term global warming & a strong El Niño weather phenomenon.
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o Global surface & sea temperatures, sea levels & greenhouse gases levels were all at record highs. o 2016 surpassed 2015 as the warmest year in 137 years of record keeping
Important Current Affairs Capsule May 2017
Important Current Affairs Capsule June 2017
Important Current Affairs Capsule July 2017
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