NATIONAL UPDATES:
1. Union cabinet sets PSU bank mergers in motion: Finance Minister Arun Jaitley said a
ministerial panel will be set up to supervise merger proposals from 21 PSU
banks, adding that the objective of the planned consolidation is to create
strong banks. Prime Minister Modi will decide who all will be there in the
ministerial panel, referred to as the alternative mechanism. After the banks
that are interested in getting merged secure in principle approval from the
ministerial panel, they will take steps as per regulatory requirements.
2. Supreme Court to deliver verdict tomorrow on right
to privacy: A nine-judge
constitution bench headed by chief Justice J.S. Khehar had on 2 August reserved
its verdict after hearing marathon arguments for six days over a period of
three weeks, during which submissions were advanced in favour and against the
inclusion of the right to privacy as a fundamental right. The Supreme Court is
likely to pronounce on 24th August its judgement on the vexatious issue whether
the right to privacy can be held as a fundamental right under the Constitution.
3. New cadre policy for IAS, IPS officers finalized – Govt.: A new policy for cadre allocation has been finalised
by the Central government for Indian Administrative Service (IAS), Indian
Police Service (IPS) and other officers, aimed at ensuring “national
integration” in the country’s top bureaucracy. Officers of all-India
services—the IAS, IPS and Indian Forest Service (IFS)—will have to choose
cadres from a set of zones instead of states.
4. ISRO to launch back-up navigation satellite on 31st August: The Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) said
it will launch its navigation satellite ‘IRNSS-1H’ on 31 August to augment the
existing seven satellites of the NavIC constellation. To be launched on board
PSLV-C39, IRNSS-1H will be a ‘back-up’ navigation satellite for IRNSS-1A, one
of the seven satellites in the constellation, as its three rubidium atomic
clocks on board have stopped functioning.
5. Raghuram Rajan pens book on RBI stint: Raghuram Rajan’s commentary and speeches in ‘I Do
What I Do: On Reform, Rhetoric & Resolve’ convey what it was like to be at
the helm of RBI in those turbulent times. It is being published by Harper
Collins. This is not Rajan’s first book. He co-authored Saving Capitalism
from the Capitalists with Luigi Zingales and wrote Fault Lines: How
Hidden Fractures Still Threaten the World Economy, for which he was awarded
the Financial Times-Goldman Sachs prize for best business book.
6. Kaifiyat Express derails in Uttar Pradesh’s Auriya
district: Kaifiyat Express,
travelling from Azamgarh in Uttar Pradesh to Delhi, collided with a dumper at
around 2:50am between Pata and Achhalda railway stations, injuring 50 persons. HRD ministry junks plan for common engineering
entrance examination: The human resource development (HRD) ministry has decided to junk the
plan of introducing a common engineering entrance exam from next year. It is
noteworthy that, All India Council of Technical Education (AICTE), the
country’s technical education regulator, had announced in March that a
national-level common entrance examination for engineering colleges would be
conducted from the next academic year in 2018.
7. Union cabinet clears transfer of AAI’s 40 acre land
to MMRDA for Mumbai Metro: The Union cabinet
on Wednesday approved transferring 40 acres of land owned by the Airports
Authority of India to Mumbai Metropolitan Region Development Authority (MMRDA).
The land at RR station, Dahisar, would be transferred to the MMRDA for its
metro shed. In return, 40 acres of state government land at Gorai would be
swapped.
8. Ashwani Lohani appointed new Chairman of
Railway Board: Ashwani Lohani was on Wednesday appointed as the new Chairman of Railway
Board after AK Mittal tendered his resignation following recent
train accidents.
9. Drones
to guard Gujarat’s river-beds against sand mafia: In an attempt to
crack down upon the illegal sand mafia operating in and around the river beds
of Sabarmati, Orsang, Tapi and Narmada, the Gujarat government for the first
time will be deploying drones for mining surveillance.
INTERNATIONAL UPDATES:
1. Mark Wahlberg world’s highest-paid actor, Shahrukh,
Salman, Akshay in top 10: Mark Wahlberg soared to the top of the world’s
highest paid actors on an annual Forbes magazine list that
highlighted a huge disparity between male and female Hollywood stars. Wahlberg,
46, earned an estimated $68 million in 2017. The magazine named “La La Land”
Oscar winner Emma Stone as the world’s highest paid actress with an estimated
2017 take of $26 million.Three of Bollywood’s biggest stars—Shahrukh Khan ($38
million), Salman Khan ($37 million) and Akshay Kumar ($35.5 million)—took the
eighth, ninth and 10th places on the Forbes list, respectively.
OTHER UPDATES:
BANKING & FINANCE:
1. RBI to issue Rs 200 notes, notifies finance
ministry: “In exercise of the powers conferred by sub-section (1) of section 24
of the Reserve Bank of India Act, 1934 and on the recommendations of the
Central Board of Directors of the Reserve Bank of India, the Central Government
hereby specifies the denomination of bank notes of the value of two hundred
rupees,” the finance ministry notified through the Gazette of India. Finance ministry notified
issuing of Rs 200 notes, making it a legal tender and paving the way for its
circulation by RBI.
BUSINESS & ECONOMY:
2. Investors seek Nandan Nilekani’s appointment to
Infosys board: As many as 12 key
domestic institutional investors (DIIs) have written to Infosys, batting for
co-founder Nandan Nilekani’s appointment to the board, and expressing their
concerns over Vishal Sikka’s resignation from the post of chief executive
officer (CEO) last week.
3. Five airports to allow Ola, Uber bookings at kiosks: Airports Authority of India has tied up with Ola and
Uber to allow for cab bookings from airport kiosks at Chennai, Kolkata, Pune,
Lucknow and Bhubaneswar. This will help passengers in booking cabs at the
kiosks instead of depending on the mobile apps.
SPORTS:
4. IPL brand value jumps 26% to touch $5.3 billion: IPL brand value jumps 26% in 2017 to over $ 5.3
billion from $ 4.2 billion in 2016 on the back of the renewed title sponsorship
deals of the popular T20 tournament.
5. Wayne Rooney announces retirement from
international football: Wayne Rooney announced his retirement from
International football. He said, "I will always remain a passionate
England fan. One of my very few regrets is not to have been part of a
successful England tournament side."
