CURRENT AFFAIRS: 11TH AUGUST-2017:15th BIMSTEC Ministerial meeting to be held in Kathmandu:

NATIONAL

Jaitley to present 2nd volume of Economic Survey 2016-17 in Parliament:

Finance Minister Arun Jaitley presented the second volume of Economic Survey 2016-17 in both houses of the Parliament. The second volume authored by Chief Economic Adviser Arvind Subramanian and his team, will contain updated macroeconomic data.

Nitish launches mobile therapy van for elderly people:

Bihar Chief Minister Nitish Kumar flagged off mobile therapy vans which would provide basic medical assistance to elderly people, widows and other section who requires social security.

The CM flagged off mobile therapy vans to launch “Buniyadi Sanjivani Sewa” at a function in presence of Deputy Chief Minister Sushil Kumar Modi and minister for Social Welfare department Manju Varma. The van is an outcome of a joint project of the World Bank and the Bihar government which is run by Social Welfare department.

Bihar

• Capital: Patna
• Chief Minister: Nitish Kumar
• Governor: Keshari Nath Tripathi(additional charges)

Gujarat sets up 1555-hectare ‘Japanese Industrial Park’ ahead of Shinzo Abe visit:

Ahead of the Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe’s scheduled visit to India in September, Gujarat government is setting up a brand new “Japanese Industrial Park” on the Delhi-Mumbai Industrial Corridor (DMIC) passing through Ahmedabad, that is spread on 1555 hectare and is 15 times bigger in size compared to an existing one.

A new Japanese Park will come up at Khoraj near Sanand. This is the second such park that we are setting up for the Japanese in the state. The state government is expected to spend over Rs 400 crore in building the basic infrastructure in this park.

Gujarat

• Capital: Gandhinagar
• Chief Minister: Vijay Rupani
• Governor: Om Prakash Kohli

1000 Pradhan Mantri Bhartiya Janaushadhi Pariyojana (PMBJP) Kendras to be opened in Uttar Pradesh:

Union Minister of State for Road Transport and Highways, Shipping and Chemicals and Fertilizers, Shri Mansukh Lal Mandviya, presided over the Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) signing ceremony between the Union Government and the State Government of Uttar Pradesh for opening 1000 Pradhan Mantri Bhartiya Janaushadhi Pariyojana (PMBJP) Kendras in the State.

The Bureau of Pharma PSUs of India (BPPI), under Ministry of Chemicals and Fertilizers, signed the MoU on behalf of Government of India with State Agency for Comprehensive Health and Integrated Services (SACHIS) representing Government of Uttar Pradesh.

Uttar Pradesh

• Capital: Lucknow
• Chief Minister: Yogi Adityanath
• Governor: Shri Ram Naik
• Narendra Modi constituency: Varanasi, Uttar Pradesh 

Rs 2k cr boost for Telangana irrigation sector:

          Giving a major boost to the irrigation sector the State government has announced a new supplementation scheme for Sriram Sagar Project (SRSP) with an outlay of Rs 2,000 crore, half of which will be spent for modernisation of the canal system and the rest for installation of the pumping facility. The remaining Rs 1,000 crore would be spent on lifting water from Kaleshwaram. Chief Minister K Chandrashekhar Rao will lay the foundation stone for the supplementation scheme.

Telangana

• Capital: Hyderabad
• Chief Minister: Chandrasekhar rao
• Governor: S. L. Narasimhan

No renewal of insurance for vehicles without pollution certificate, says Supreme Court:

In a bid to curb pollution, the Supreme Court issued a directive that insurance of a vehicle will not be renewed unless the owner provides pollution under control (PUC) certificate.

Among the other slew of directions, the bench headed by Justice Madan B Lokur also asked the Ministry of Road Transport and Highways to ensure that all fuel refilling centres in the National Capital Region (NCR) have PUC centres. The court considered the suggestions given by Environment Pollution Control Authority (EPCA).

Rs 5,000 EC for possessing banned plastic in Delhi: NGT

The National Green Tribunal (NGT) imposed an interim ban on use of non-biodegradable plastic bags which are less than 50 microns in the entire national Capital.

A bench headed by NGT Chairperson Justice Swatanter Kumar also announced an environment compensation of Rs. 5,000 on anyone found in possession of such banned plastic.

INTERNATIONAL

India and US to co-host the Global Entrepreneurship Summit:

India and US will be co-hosting the Global Entrepreneurship Summit (GES) at Hyderabad from 28-30 November, 2017. The Summit is a unique opportunity for bringing together entrepreneurs and start ups with global leaders.

USA

• President of the United States: Donald Trump
• Currency: United States Dollar
• Capital: Washington, D.C. 

15th BIMSTEC Ministerial meeting to be held in Kathmandu:

The working session of the 15th Bay of Bengal Initiative for Multi-Sectoral Technical and Economic Cooperation, BIMSTEC, Ministerial meeting is held at Kathmandu. Prime Minister Sher Bahadur Deuba has inaugurated and address the meeting. External Affairs Minister Sushma Swaraj is representing India in the meeting.

          Trade, Investment, Energy, Transport, Tourism, Poverty alleviation and Counter-terrorism are the key areas expected to be focused in the meeting. After working session External Affairs Minister Sushma Swaraj will have bilateral meetings with Bhutanese and Sri Lankan ministers. She will also attend a special programme “ India@70” organised by Indian Embassy to mark 70 years of Independence.

About BIMSTEC

BIMSTEC is an international organisation involving a group of countries in South Asia and South East Asia. The member countries of BIMSTEC are India, Bangladesh, Myanmar, Sri Lanka, Thailand, Bhutan and Nepal.

Nepal

• Prime minister: Sher Bahadur Deuba
• Currency: Nepalese rupee
• Capital: Kathmandu

BANKING & BUSINESS:

SEBI launches online registration for custodians of securities:

          Securities and Exchange Board of India, SEBI, has introduced an online registration mechanism for custodians of securities to make it convenient for them to do business. Markets regulator said, 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.

The custodian of securities seeking approval as Designated Depository Participant (DDP) in terms of SEBI (FPI) regulations shall also apply through this portal. It said, all applicants desirous of seeking registration as a Custodian of Securities are now required to submit their applications online only, through SEBI Intermediary Portal.

SEBI

• Headquarters: Mumbai
• Chairman: Ajay Tyagi

Facebook launches YouTube competitor called ‘Watch’:

In an apparent bid to take on Google-owned YouTube, Facebook has rolled out ‘Watch‘ – a redesigned video platform for creators and publishers. The social media giant last year launched ‘Video’ tab in the US which offered a predictable place to find videos on Facebook.

Softbank to invest over $2.5 billion in Flipkart:

Softbank announced that it has invested over $2.5 billion— a mix of primary and secondary capital—in the e-commerce company. With this massive infusion, Softbank has become one of Flipkart’s largest shareholders.

SOFT BANK

• Headquarters: Minato, Tokyo, Japan
• Chairman: Masayoshi Son

RBI issues final guidelines for tri-party repo transactions:

The Reserve Bank issued the final guidelines on tri-party repo transactions as part of its attempt to energise the corporate bond market and generate more liquidity in the segment.

 ABOUT Tri –party repo

A tri-party repo is a contract between a buyer and a seller of a security along with a third party agent. In most cases, the third-party agent may be a custodian bank, which will facilitate services like collateral selection, payment and settlement, custody and management during the life of the transaction.

Such repos can be traded over-the-counter (OTC) including on electronic platforms, or, on stock exchanges, and should reported within 15 minutes of the trade for public dissemination to CCIL or to exchanges or any other reporting platform authorised for the purpose by the Reserve Bank, it said in a notification.

Union Bank board clears induction of Dai-ichi Life arm as partner in AMC:

          Union Bank of India’s board of directors gave ‘in-principle’ approval to induct Dai-ichi Life Holdings group company Asset Management One Company as a strategic partner in Union Asset Management Company Pvt Ltd (Union AMC). Rajkiran Rai G, MD & CEO, Union Bank of India, said the foreign partner will own 40 per cent stake in Union AMC.

Dai-ichi Life Insurance has a three-way life insurance joint venture with Bank of India and UBI. While the Japanese life insurer holds 45.94 stake in Star Union Dai-ichi Life Insurance, BoI and UBI hold 28.96 per cent and 25.10 per cent stakes, respectively.

Union Bank of India

• Headquarters: Mumbai
• CEO: Arun Tiwari

MCX gets SEBI approval for launching gold options:

The Multi Commodity Exchange Ltd (MCX) has received capital markets regulator Securities and Exchange Board of India’s (SEBI) approval to launch options on gold, said two people with direct knowledge of the matter.

          Non-agri commodities, according to SEBI rules, need to have an average turnover of Rs1,000 crore and the commodity needs to be in the top five list in terms of daily turnover. Based of these criterion, MCX chose gold, which is the most liquid commodity on its platform.

SEBI on 26^th April had cleared the issues around settlement by finalizing amendments to the Stock Exchange and Clearing Corporation (SECC) regulations and Securities Contract Regulation Act.

RESIGNS

Sri Lanka foreign minister resigns over corruption charges:

Sri Lanka’s Foreign Minister Ravi Karunanayake, who was recently linked to a questionable financial arrangement with a controversial businessman, resigned from the post.

 Srilanka

• Currency: Sri Lankan rupee
• Capitals: Colombo, Sri Jayawardenepura Kotte
• Prime minister: Ranil Wickremesinghe

AWARDS

The Hindu Playwright Award 2017 presented:

The Hindu Playwright Award 2017 went to Gerish Khemani and Akshat Nigam for their play ‘In Search of Dariya Sagar’. The 2 lakh award, instituted in 2008 to reward the best new unpublished and unperformed play-script in English, was presented during the launch of the 13th edition of The Hindu Theatre Fest at the Crowne Plaza Hotel in Chennai.

SPORTS

BWF Rankings Prannoy jumps to world no 15 in badminton ranking:

          Indian Shuttler HS Prannoy improved two places to reach the 15th spot in the latest BWF rankings.

          Sourabh Verma, who also reached the quarters at New Zealand, also jumped five places to reach the 32^nd spot while Parupalli Kashyap jumped one place to be 46th.Ajay Jayaram and Sameer Verma dropped a spot each. Ajay is now placed at world no 17 while Verma is at the 29th position.

          Kidambi Srikanth, who clinched successive titles at Indonesia and Australia, remained at the eighth spot. In women’s singles, Olympics silver medallist PV Sindhu and London Games bronze winner Saina Nehwal continue in their same places.  Sindhu is in the 5th spot while Saina remains at the16th spot. In women’s doubles, Ashwini Ponnappa and N Sikki Reddy are placed at the 25th spot.