Daily Current Affairs Update August-3 2017

1. The Lok Sabha has passed the National Bank for Agriculture and Rural Development (Amendment) Bill, 2017 by voice vote. The Bill seeks to amend the NABARD Act, 1981.

#The Bill allows Union Government to increase capital of NABARD to Rs 30,000 crore from Rs. 5000 crore. Further, it allows Union Government to increase it to more than Rs 30,000 crore in consultation with the RBI, if necessary.

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2.The Lok Sabha has passed the Banking Regulation (Amendment) Bill, 2017 by voice vote. It will replace the Banking Regulation (Amendment) Ordinance, 2017.

The bill seeks to amend the Banking Regulation Act, 1949 to insert provisions for handling cases related to stressed assets or non-performing assets (NPAs) of banks. Stressed assets (NPAs) are loans defaulted by borrower in repayment or the loan which has been restructured by changing the repayment schedule.

# It will enable the Central government to authorize the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) to direct banking companies to resolve specific stressed assets by initiating insolvency resolution process. These proceedings will be under the Insolvency and Bankruptcy Code, 2016

#It empowers RBI to issue directions to banks for resolution of stressed assets from time to time.

# It enables RBI to specify committees or authorities to advise banks on resolution of stressed assets.  RBI will appoint or approve members on such committees.

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3.Israel has launched its first environmental research satellite named as Venus (Vegetation and Environment Monitoring New Micro-Satellite). It is a joint venture between the Israel Space Agency (ISA) and its French counterpart CNES.

#It was launched on board of Arianespace Vega launcher from the European spaceport in Kourou, French Guiana.

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4.India and other four other members of the BRICS grouping members (Brazil, Russia, China and South Africa) have pledged to fight protectionism.

#About BRICS

BRICS-Brazil, Russia, India, China and South Africa.(home to 42% of the world’s population)

established in 2009 as BRIC.

In 2011, South Africa joined 

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5.Market regulator Securities and Exchange Board of India (SEBI) has set up a committee on ‘fair market conduct’. It will be headed former law secretary T K Viswanathan.

#committee will suggest measures for improving surveillance of the markets and strengthen rules for algorithm trades, among other norms.

#About Securities and Exchange Board of India (SEBI)

SEBI is the statutory regulator for the securities market in India established in 1988.

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6. The Indian Army has developed Humraaz mobile application through which serving soldiers can track details like postings and promotions.

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7.The Archaeological Survey of India has declared all ASI protected Monuments and Archaeological Sites as ‘Polythene Free Zone’.

#The same was announced by Mahesh Sharma, Minister of State for Culture and Tourism (Independent 

Charge)

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8.The Ministry of Women and Child Development on 2 August 2017 launched a contest for designing a logo for the 'Women of India Festival', which is scheduled to be held at Dilli Haat in New Delhi in October 2017.

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9.Britain's Prince Philip, the Duke of Edinburgh and husband of Queen Elizabeth II, on 2 August 2017 retired from the royal services at the age of 96, thus putting an end to 70 years of his service.

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10. Hassan Rouhani was on 3 August 2017 officially sworn in as the President of Iran for a second term.
#Iran :
Capital: Tehran
Currency: Rial
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11. Union Railway Minister Suresh Prabhu informed that the Mumbai-Ahmedabad high-speed rail project (MAHSR), has been sanctioned for implementation with the technical and financial assistance of the Japan government.
#The construction of the corridor is expected to start by the end of 2018 and reach completion by 2023.
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12. The United Nations Security Council (UNSC) unanimously adopted a resolution to prevent terrorists from acquiring weapons, particularly small arms and light weapons.
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13. The Punjab state government has initiated the process of appointing Indian all-rounder cricketer, Harmanpreet Kaur to the post of Deputy Superintendent of Police (DSP) in the state police.
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14. A team of researchers have recently made a historic discovery of solar seismic waves which reveals that Sun's core is rotating four times faster than its surface. The study was published by NASA.
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15. Union Agriculture Ministry  signed a memorandum of association (MoA) for setting up a regional centre of the International Rice Research Institute (IRRI) in Varanasi, Uttar Pradesh to develop high- yielding rice varieties.
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16. Aadi Perukku festival celebrated in Tamilnadu
#Aadi Perukku is celebrated for the birth of the Tamil month of Aadi. This is the beginning of all the festivals during the festival seasons.
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17. The United States has issued a ban prohibiting its citizens traveling to North Korea. The ban which comes into effect from 1st of September.
#About North Korea
Capital: Pyongyang
Currency: North Korean Won
Supreme Leader: Kim Jong-un
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18. A new representative body US- India Strategic Partnership Forum (USISPF) is being set up to enhance business relations between India and US. 
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19. As per Japanese financial services firm Nomura, India along with ASEAN – 5 countries (Indonesia, Malaysia, Thailand, Philippines and Vietnam) is more attractive Foreign Direct Investment (FDI) destination as compared to other emerging markets.

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20. State Bank of India plans to raise Rs 2,000 crore by allotting Basel-III compliant bonds to various investors.
# Other campaigns launched by SBI
BOUTIQUE FINANCING SCHEME
First home grown INDEX “COMPOSITE INDEX”

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21. Yoga Guru Baba Ramdev-led Herbal products manufacturer Patanjali Ayurved (Headquarters: Haridwar, India.)plans to team up with social media site Facebook and search engine Google in a push to increase its digital presence for better online marketing.

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22. Multi Commodity Exchange of India Limited (MCX) and Mahindra Agri Solutions Ltdhave signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) to provide agriculture related price information. 
#This information would be available on their recently launched mobile application ‘MyAgriGuru’ which is available for free on Google play store.
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23. InCred, the Mumbai-based new age financial services group, has signed upRahul Dravid, as its Brand Ambassador the formerCaptain of Indian Cricket Team.
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24. The National Company Law Tribunal (NCLT) has approved the proposed merger between Bharti Airtel and Telenor India announced on 3rd of August 2017.
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25. Union Commerce Minister Nirmala Sitharaman attended BRICS Trade Ministers meeting in Shanghai, China

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26. As per a report by global financial services major UBS, Indian government is on track to achieving the fiscal deficit target of 3.2% of Gross Domestic Product (GDP) in the current fiscal year.

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27. SEBI(Headquarters: Mumbai, Maharashtra) has set up T K Viswanathan committee on fair market conduct on 2nd of August 2017. It will suggest measures for improving surveillance of the markets and strengthen rules .
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28. To build out a more elaborate personal assistant for the Messenger users, Facebook has acquired an artificial intelligence (AI) startup Ozlo that specialises in understanding text-based conversations.

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29. Indian Super League Club FC Goa has confirmed the signing of Moroccan International Ahmed Jahouh on a one year loan deal from FUS Rabat of Morocco.
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30. Senior Congress leader and former Union minister Santosh Mohan Dev has passed away in Silchar, Assam.

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31. Sam Shepard, the Pulitzer Prize-winning playwright and Oscar-nominated actor passed away.

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32.  Devendra Chawla appointed as chief operating officer and executive vice president of Wal-Mart India, a wholly-owned subsidiary of US-based Wal-Mart Stores Inc.

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33. Karnataka Bank has raised interest rates on savings bank account for large balance above Rs 1 crore to 5% while for small balances below Rs 1 lakh, the bank has reduced it to 3%.

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