Current Affairs: August 02, 2018
August 02, 2018
Union Cabinet Decisions on 1 August:

Extension
of
Concessional
Financing
Scheme (CFS) to support Indian Entities bidding
for strategically important infrastructure projects
abroad.

Raising of Extra Budgetary Resources (EBR)
for Swachh Bharat Mission (Gramin) [SBM(G)]
amounting up to Rs. 15,000 crore during the financial year 2018-19.

Restructuring of the Agricultural Scientists' Recruitment Board (ASRB).

Policy Framework for exploration and exploitation of Unconventional Hydrocarbons.

LIC to acquire controlling 51% stake of IDBI Bank.

Opening of 13 new Kendriya Vidyalayas in seven States and opening of second
Jawahar Navodaya Vidyalaya at Alot, District Ratlam, Madhya Pradesh.

Grant of Interest Free Loan equivalent to interest during construction component to
fertilizer revival projects at Sindri, Gorakhpur and Barauni by Hindustan Urvarak and
Rasayan Limited.

Issue of fresh equity to the extent of 15% of the paid up equity capital by Hindustan
Copper Limited.
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Current Affairs: August 02, 2018
Government launches the scheme Seva Bhoj Yojna, beginning from 1 August
The Ministry of Culture, Government of India
has launched the new scheme namely ‘ Seva
Bhoj Yojna starting 01.08.2018, with a total
outlay of Rs. 325.00 Crores for Financial Years
2018-19 and 2019-20. The scheme envisages to
reimburse the Central Government share of
Central Goods and Services Tax (CGST) and Integrated Goods and Service Tax (IGST)so as to
lessen the financial burden of such as Religious/Charitable
Institutions who provide
Food/Prasad/Langar (Community Kitchen)/Bhandara free of cost without any discrimination to
Public/Devotees.
NITI Aayog launches Move Hack, global mobility hackathon to crowdsource
solutions for future of mobility in India
NITI Aayog has launched Move Hack, a global
mobility hackathon to crowdsource solutions
aimed at the future of mobility in India.
Envisaged to be one of the largest hackathons
globally, Move Hack is focused on 10 themes and
structured over three legs: online, followed by
Singapore leg, and the finals in New Delhi.
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Current Affairs: August 02, 2018
Nationwide ‘State Energy Efficiency Preparedness Index’ released
As part of its commitment to create awareness about
energy efficiency as a resource and also to develop an
action plan for energy conservation initiatives, Bureau
of Energy Efficiency (BEE) and Alliance for an
Energy Efficient Economy (AEEE), released the ‘State
Energy
Efficiency
Preparedness
Index’,
which
assesses state policies and programmes aimed at improving energy efficiency across various
sectors. The State Energy Efficiency Preparedness Index has 63 indicators across Building,
Industry, Municipality, Transport, Agriculture and DISCOM with 4 cross-cutting indicators.
States are categorised based on their efforts and achievements towards energy efficiency
implementation, as ‘Front Runner’, ‘Achiever’, ‘Contender’ and ‘Aspirant’. The ‘Front Runner’
states in the inaugural edition of the Index are: Andhra Pradesh, Kerala, Maharashtra, Punjab,
and Rajasthan based on available data.
NITI Aayog to host Investors’ Conference for the Holistic Development of Islands
on Aug 10
NITI Aayog will host an Investors’ Conference on
August 10, 2018 at Pravasi Bharatiya Kendra for the
Holistic Development of Islands. The Conference
will be inaugurated by Shri. Amitabh Kant, CEO,
NITI Aayog. It will attract investment for the
sustainable development of eco-tourism projects in
Andaman & Nicobar and Lakshadweep islands.
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Current Affairs: August 02, 2018
'Chill Bus' service begins in Kerala
Kerala Transport minister AK Saseendran has
launched 'Chill Bus', a new low-floor AC buses
service. Around 180 buses are going to be a part of
this service. This premium bus service will link all
main regions like east-west, south-north regions as
well as main tourist places.
President gives away Outstanding Parliamentarian awards
President Ram Nath Kovind gave away the
Outstanding Parliamentarian awards on 1 August.
The Awardees were Najma Heptullah, Hukumdev
Narayan Yadav, Ghulam Nabi Azad, Dinesh
Trivedi and Bhartru hari Mahtab. At the program
the
Prime
Minister
expressed
concern
over
disruptions in Parliament saying that the Nation was the loser. Dr. Najma Heptullah won the
award for 2013, Hukum Dev Narayan for 2014, Ghulam Nabi Azad for 2015, Dinesh Trivedi for
2016 and Bhartruhari Mahtab for 2017.
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Current Affairs: August 02, 2018
RBI hikes repo rates by 25 basis points in 3rd Bi-monthly Monetary policy on 1
August
The six-member monetary policy committee (MPC) of
the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) has decided to
increase the repo rate by 25 basis points to 6.5% due
to inflation concerns. Repurchase rate or the repo rate
is the rate at which the RBI lends money to
commercial banks in the event of any shortfall of
funds. Reverse repo — the rate at which the RBI borrows money from commercial banks within
the country — is adjusted to 6.25%. The RBI has projected the inflation at 4.6% in Q2, 4.8% in
H2 of 2018-19 and 5.0% in Q1 of 2019-20 “with risks evenly balanced”.
Present Rates are as follows:
Repo Rate
6.50%
Reverse Repo Rate
6.25%
Marginal Standing Facility Rate
6.75%
Bank Rate
6.75%
Bank Rate
4%
SLR
19.5%
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Current Affairs: August 02, 2018
GST collections at Rs 96,483 crore in July
Revenue collection from Goods and Services Tax
(GST) steadily rose to Rs 96,483 crore in the month of
July, from Rs 95,610 crore in June, data released by
Finance Ministry showed. Despite a rise in revenue
collection in July, the mop-up is still lower than the
government’s monthly target of Rs 1 lakh crore. The
2018-19 budgeted estimates for GST collection is Rs 12 lakh crore.
PHDCCI and CNI sign MoU to set up Indo-Nepal Centre
PHD Chamber of Commerce and Industry
(PHDCCI) and Confederation of Nepalese
Industries (CNI) has signed a memorandum of
understanding (MoU) to establish India-Nepal
Centre. It will further strengthen economic
engagement between the two countries. The
MoU aims to promote Indian investment in Nepal, Work with Indian ventures in Nepal to
resolve problems being faced by them promote industrialization in Nepal and provide training
to Nepali entrepreneurs. The MoU was signed by Anil Khaitan, President of PHDCCI and
Hari Bhakta Sharma, President of CNI in Kathmandu recently.
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Current Affairs: August 02, 2018
Lucknow Metro, BSNL ink pact to facilitate customer services
Lucknow Metro Rail Corporation (LMRC) and
BSNL have signed an MoU for extending benefits
in customer services. Through this agreement,
BSNL will avail the smart card services of LMRC
for collection of post-paid bills and sale of
prepaid products like recharge vouchers and
electronic top-up at LMRC station counters.
StarAgri Fin, Karur Vysya Bank tie-up for agri lending
StarAgri Finance, a subsidiary of StarAgri
Warehousing and Collateral Management, and
Karur Vysya Bank have entered into a strategic
tie-up
for
co-lending
against
agriculture
commodities stored in the StarAgri’s warehouses.
An MoU was signed between StarAgri Finance
and KVB for co-lending services in Tamil Nadu, Karnataka, Andhra Pradesh and Maharashtra.
This partnership will help make institutional finance accessible to local commodity traders and
farmers.
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Current Affairs: August 02, 2018
ICICI Bank gets RBI nod for Bakshi's appointment as COO
ICICI Bank recently said the Reserve Bank of India has
approved the appointment of Sandeep Bakhshi as the
Chief Operating Officer with effect from July 31, 2018
for 3 years. CEO Chanda Kochhar will be on leave till
completion of the external enquiry against her in the
Videocon loan matter and named Sandeep Bakhshi as
chief operating officer, who would be handling all the businesses, ICICI Bank had said in June.
Kumar Mangalam Birla, Y.C. Deveshwar appointed non-official directors in Air
India
The Appointments Committee of the Cabinet
headed
by
Prime
Minister
Narendra
Modi
approved the appointment of Mr. Birla and Mr.
Deveshwar as non-official independent directors in
Air India for a period of 3 years, the order issued by
Personnel Ministry said. Besides them, Shyamvir
Saini and Gurmohinder Singh will be non-official
independent directors in National Seeds Corporation Ltd and Bharat Earth Movers Limited
respectively. Arun Tandon has been appointed non-official director in Balmer Lawrie and Co
Ltd, the order said without citing any details about these people. Tapan Kumar Mandal has
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Current Affairs: August 02, 2018
been named non-official independent directors in Kolkata Metro Rail Corporation Ltd, the
order said.
CB Ananthakrishnan assumes charge as Director (Finance) of HAL
State-owned Hindustan Aeronautics Ltd recently said C
B Ananthakrishnan has assumed charge as Director
(Finance) of the company. Prior to this, he was the
Executive Director (Finance) at HAL Corporate Office,
the company said in a statement.
CAG of India signs 28 UN Audit Reports
Comptroller and Auditor General of India Rajiv
Mehrishi signed 28 UN Audit Reports at the United
Nations Headquarters in New York. Mehrishi
chaired the 72nd regular session of the UN Board of
Auditors on July 24 and 25. The Board session was
also attended by Auditor General of the United
Republic of Tanzania Prof Mussa Juma Assad, President of the German Federal Court of
Auditors Kay Scheller and Comptroller General of Chile Jorge Bermudez Soto who were also
members of the United Nations Board of Auditors.
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Current Affairs: August 02, 2018
Nepal: Indian Embassy camp office in Biratnagar closed down
The camp office of Indian Embassy in Biratnagar,
Nepal has been closed down from 2 August. All the
services including issuing of motor vehicle permits,
registration
certificates
for
Indian
nationals,
attestation of documents and birth or death
registrations rendered by Biratnagar Camp Office
now can be availed from the Embassy of India,
Kathmandu office. The Biratnagar Camp Office was opened in 2008 to deal with the situation
arising out of devastating Kosi floods. The purpose of this Camp Office has been fulfilled and
Government of India had decided to wind up the Camp Office and relocate the personnel.
China launches Gaofen-11 satellite on a Long March 4B rocket
China launches the Gaofen-11 satellite on a
Long March 4B rocket from the Taiyuan Satellite
Launch Center in Taiyuan, capital of north
China's Shanxi Province on 31 July. The satellite
has been successfully put into the predetermined
orbit.
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Current Affairs: August 02, 2018
ASEAN Foreign Ministers meet begins in Singapore
Singapore Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong
kicked
off
the
51st
ASEAN
Foreign
Ministers meeting in Singapore on 2
August. Lee emphasised the need for
ASEAN countries to be united to avoid
repercussions amid trade tensions between
the United States and its long-time trading partners, including China, the EU and Canada.
Asian Athletics Championships to be held in April 2019
The 23rd Asian Athletics Championships will be
held in Qatar's capital city of Doha, from April
19 to April 24, 2019. The biennial continental
event which is usually held in July-August has
been preponed by the Asian Athletics Association
(AAA) due to the intensely hot and humid
summers in Doha. The 6-day competition will be held at the Khalifa International Stadium,
which will also host the IAAF World Championships from September 28 to October 06, 2019.
With less than two years to go for the 2020 Tokyo Olympics, the planning committee of
Athletics Federation of India (AFI) has advised all the coaches and athletes to focus on the two
competitions.
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Current Affairs: August 02, 2018
Learn Two a Day:
Coal India Limited (CIL) headquarters: Kolkata
Mazagon Dock Shipbuilders Limited: Mumbai
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