IMPORTANT CURRENT AFFAIRS OF AUGUST 17th, 2017

IMPORTANT CURRENT AFFAIRS OF AUGUST 17th, 2017

1. Cabinet Approved raising of over Rs 9000 cr through NABARD for Completing Irrigation Projects

i. The Union Cabinet has approved raising extra budgetary resources up to 9,020 crore rupees for Long Term Irrigation Fund in 2017-18 under Pradhan Mantri Krishi Sinchayee Yojana (PMKSY). According to Finance Minister Arun Jaitley, the amount will be raised by NABARD through Bonds.

ii. The Fund seeks to make loans from NABARD attractive for states by ensuring lending rate of 6 per cent per annum.

2. CCEA Approves Proposal of DIPAM for Strategic Disinvestment

i. The Cabinet Committee on Economic Affairs (CCEA) has approved the proposal of Department of Investment and Public Asset Management (DIPAM) for the strategic disinvestment. The approval will help in speedy completion of strategic disinvestment transactions.

ii. The department will set up an alternative mechanism comprising of the Finance Minister, Minister for Road Transport and Highways and Minister of Administrative Department, to decide on the matters relating to terms and conditions of the sale from the stage of inviting of Express of Interests till inviting of financial bid.

3. Italy to Host G-7 Interior Ministers' Summit on Security

i. Italy will host a summit of G-7 interior ministers centered on security issues in the fall. According to Italian Interior Minister Marco Minniti, 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.

ii. Italy currently holds the rotating helm of the Group of Seven industrialized nations. The summit is expected to be held in October 2017.

About G-7 in Brief-

1. Originally the group comprised six members- France, Italy, West Germany, Japan, United Kingdom and the United States.
2. It was founded in 1975.
3. Canada became the seventh member to begin attending the summits in 1976, after which the name 'Group 7' or G7 Summit was used.
4. Russia formally joined the group in 1998, resulting in the creation of a new governmental political forum, the Group of Eight or G8.
5. However, Russia was eliminated from the group in 2014 after it annexed the Ukrainian territory of Crimea.

4. NABARD Awards for Corporation Bank

i. Corporation Bank has bagged the best performance awards for SHG-bank linkage program for Karnataka for 2015-16 and 2016-17 from National Bank for Agriculture and Rural Development (Nabard).

ii. The bank was given the award for its overall performance under SHG-bank linkage program for 2015-16 and 2016-17 among commercial banks operating in Karnataka. The bank has formed more than 1.32 lakh self-help groups (SHGs).

5. SBI Gives Leg-up to CSR Initiatives

i. State Bank of India has launched a CSR (Corporate Social Responsibility) initiative, SBI Gram Seva, which will work in the areas of health, education, environment and rural infrastructure.

ii. The SBI Foundation will identify and partner with NGOs to carry out CSR initiatives under which it adopt five villages each from 10 village panchayats with each village getting around Rs 2.40 crore over the next three years.

6. Karnataka Bank on Social Media

i. Karnataka Bank Ltd has ventured into social media by opening its official pages in social networking sites such as FaceBook, Twitter, Instagram, and YouTube.

ii. Mahabaleshwara MS, MD and CEO of the bank, unveiled the official social handles of the bank in Mangaluru. The official social handle of the bank is @karnatakabank for Twitter and Facebook, and @officialkarnatakabank for Instagram.

7. Karur Vysya Bank Opens its First Aadhaar Enrollment Centre

i. Karur Vysya Bank rolled out an Aadhaar Enrollment Centre at its Nelson Manickam Road Branch in Chennai.

ii. The facility was inaugurated by D M Gajare, assistant director general, Unique Identification Authority of India (UIDAI), Regional Office, Bengaluru. KVB is the first private sector bank to provide this service in India. 

8. RCom's Merger with Aircel Gets NCLT Nod

i. The National Company Law Tribunal (NCLT) admitted proposals for the merger between Aircel and Reliance Communications wireless business, as well as the latter's sale of its tower business to Canada's Brookfield.

ii. The telecom department had also asked NCLT to direct RCom and Aircel to get permission from the Supreme Court before filing their merger plea. The Merged entities will be called as 'Aircom' and both will have 50% equity stake.

9. Reliance Defence is Now Reliance Naval and Engineering

i. Anil Ambani’s Reliance Infrastructure-controlled Reliance Defence and Engineering is changing its name to Reliance Naval and Engineering Ltd (RNEL). According to the Company, change of name is in line with company’s focus on building capabilities for the Indian Navy and the Coast Guard.

ii. The company is set to seek shareholders’ approval for the name change in its AGM on August 22. After the Reliance Group acquired a controlling stake in Pipavav Defence and Offshore Engineering in 2016, it changed the name of the company to Reliance Defence and Engineering.

10. Government Slaps USD264 Million Penalty on RIL

i. The government has imposed a new penalty of USD 264 million (about Rs 1,700 crore) on Reliance Industries Ltd and its partners for producing less than the targeted natural gas from eastern offshore KG-D6 fields in 2015-16.

ii. The Production Sharing Contract (PSC) allows RIL and its partners BP Plc of the UK and Canada’s Niko Resources to deduct all capital and operating expenses from the sale of gas before sharing profit with the government.

11. Uber Launches B2B Model for Business

i. Ridesharing app Uber has launched a business to business model called "Uber for Business " to enable new use cases like daily commute, late-night rides home from work, between-office transportation.

ii. This new model comes with the features like Set-and-forget travel programs, New permissions, Different access for different groups and A fresh user interface.

12. Karur Vysya Bank Appoints P R Seshadri as MD and CEO

i. Karur Vysya Bank Ltd has informed BSE that the Reserve Bank of India has accorded their approval for the appointment of Shri P R Seshadri as Managing Director & Chief Executive Officer of the Bank for a period of three years from the date of his taking charge.

ii. He has replaced K Venkataraman.

13. RBI Makes Aadhaar Linkage Mandatory for Farmers

i. To ensure hassle-free benefits to farmers under Interest Subvention Scheme, the Reserve Bank of India has advised banks to make Aadhaar linkage mandatory for availing short-term crop loans up to Rs 3 lakh in 2017-18.

ii. In order to provide short-term crop loans to farmers at an interest rate of 7 percent during the year 2017-18, the RBI said it has been decided to offer interest subvention of 2 percent to lending institutions, public sector banks, private sector commercial banks on use of their own resources.

14. IAAF World Championships 2017

i. The 16th edition of IAAF (International Association of Athletics Federations) World Championships 2017 was held in London. The championships were held in the London Stadium in Stratford. 'Hero-the Hedgehog' was a Mascot of 2017 IAAF World Championships and 'Whizbee-the Bee' was the Mascot for the Para Athletics.

ii. The USA topped the tally of Medals with 30 medals. Top 5 Countries in the list of Medals were-

1. US (30 Medals)
2. Kenya (11 Medals)
3. Great Britain (6 Medals)
4. Poland (8 Medals)
5. China (7 Medals)

15. Real Madrid Beats Barcelona to Win 2017 Spanish Super Cup

i. Real Madrid defeated Barcelona in the second leg of the 2017 Spanish Super Cup to seal the win at the Bernabeu, Spain.

ii. Real Madrid achieved the feat without Cristiano Ronaldo, who was slapped with a five-game ban for pushing the referee after he was sent-off in the first leg.