05th-07th August, 2023

1. The President of India, Droupadi Murmu inaugurated ‘Unmesha’ – International Literature Festival and ‘Utkarsh’ – Festival of Folk and Tribal Performing Arts at Bhopal, Madhya Pradesh.
2. Union Minister for Education, Dharmendra Pradhan and Union Minister for External Affairs Dr S Jaishankar jointly launched Study in India (SII) portal to provide information about higher education institutions (HEIs) in India.
3. Union Ministry of Education has chosen Oracle Cloud Infrastructure to modernise and upgrade its Diksha platform to provide educational resources to millions of additional students, teachers and collaborators across India.
4. Godrej Security Solutions has secured a significant project to provide an advanced Key Management System to Satish Dhawan Space Centre SHAR (SDSC-SHAR), India’s esteemed Spaceport.
5. The Project Tiger division has been merged with Project Elephant and a new division with the name ‘Project Tiger and Elephant Division’ has been created under the Ministry of Environment, Forest and Climate Change (MoEF&CC).
6. National Health Authority (NHA) has announced the extension of its Digital Health Incentives Scheme (DHIS) under the Ayushman Bharat Digital Mission (ABDM) till 31st December 2023.
7. International Union for Conservation of Nature’s Species Survival Commission (SSC) and the Wildlife Trust of India (WTI) have partnered to establish the Center for Species Survival (CSS) for South Asia in India.
8. Rajya Sabha has passed the Anusandhan National Research Foundation Bill, 2023 to replace the Science and Engineering Research Board Act, 2008.
9. Rajya Sabha has passed the Inter-Services Organisations (Command, Control and Discipline) Bill, 2023.
10. The Sahitya Akademi will publish an anthology of poems with contributions from each of the G-20 nations to commemorate India’s presidency of the grouping.
11. Prime Minister Narendra Modi laid the foundation stone for the redevelopment of 508 railway stations across the country under the Amrit Bharat Station scheme.
12. The construction of the India International Centre for Buddhist Culture and Heritage (IICBCH) formally began at Lumbini in Nepal.
13. India has provided financial assistance of Rs 45 crore to support Sri Lanka’s unique digital identity project.
14. ‘Digital India RISC-V’ Symposium was organised by IIT Madras and IIT-M Pravartak Technologies Foundation in Chennai.
15. Kerala govt has launched the ‘Shubhayatra’ to provide financial support to first-time overseas emigrants from Kerala.
16. Assam Chief Minister Himanta Biswa Sarma launched the Department of Forest & Environment’s Amrit Brikshya Andolan web portal/mobile application and the Wood-based Industry (WBI) registration web portal.
17. NABARD has sanctioned Rs 1,974.07 crore to the Rajasthan government under the Rural Infrastructure Development Fund (RIDF) for 2023-24.
18. Karnataka government formally launched ‘Gruha Jyothi’ scheme to provide up to 200 units of free power to households in the state.
19. Kerala govt has launched the ‘Athidhi portal’, a user-friendly web portal to expedite the registration process for migrant workers in Kerala and introduce a unique identification system for them.
20. Union Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman laid the foundation stone for the establishment of a museum in Adichanallur, to showcase artefacts from ancient Tamil civilization, excavated from this archaeological site.
21. Iraq has become the 18th country globally which has eliminated trachoma as a public health problem.
22. Food and Agriculture Organization’s (FAO) All Rice Price Index rose 2.8% in July from a month ago, which is the highest level in nearly 12 years as prices in key exporting countries jumped on strong demand.
23. Ethiopia has declared a state of emergency in the Amhara region due to a surge in violence between a local ethnic militia and the army.
24. Financial services company Societe Generale (based in Paris) bought shares of private lender Bandhan Bank for Rs 382 crore through open market transactions.
25. SEBI has allowed Offer for Sale (OFS) for units of private listed Infrastructure Investment Trusts (InvlTs) through a stock exchange mechanism.
26. SEBI and Association of Portfolio Managers in India (APMI) will jointly set standards for performance audit of portfolio management services (PMS) companies.
27. IndusInd Bank and Tiger Fintech – a Bajaj Capital Group company, have launched the IndusInd Bank Tiger Credit Card, a co-branded credit card powered by Visa.
28. IndiaFirst Life Insurance Company has launched a non-linked and non-participating product Guarantee of Life Dreams (G.O.L.D.) Plan, that offers policyholders regular long-term income.
29. Department of Public Enterprises, Ministry of Finance, has upgraded the status of the Oil India Ltd (OIL) to Maharatna CPSE. It is now the 13th Maharatna CPSE.
30. Gautam Adani-owned Ambuja Cements Ltd. has acquired a majority stake in Sanghi Industries at an enterprise value of ₹5,000 crore.
31. Oil and Natural Gas Corporation Limited (ONGC) has signed a term contract with Bharat Petroleum Corporation Limited (BPCL) for the sale of crude oil from the Mumbai region.
32. Mastercard introduced the Cardholder Verification Code (CVC)-less online transactions for its debit and credit cardholders who have tokenized their cards on merchant platforms.
33. NMDC Ltd has unveiled its new logo.
34. Petroleum and Natural Gas Regulatory Board (PNGRB) has collaborated with the World Bank to prepare a roadmap for hydrogen blending in natural gas and their transmission through gas pipelines in the country.
35. Ministry of Finance has imposed a definitive anti-dumping duty on certain optical fibre imports from China, South Korea and Indonesia to give some relief to the domestic optical fibre industry reeling under the adverse impact of low-price and low-quality imports.
36. S&P Global Ratings has forecasted India to grow at 6.7% between FY24 and FY31 and double the size of the economy to $6.7 trillion within the next eight years.
37. Indian Air Force (IAF) has received the Israeli Spike Non-Line of Sight (NLOS) anti-tank guided missiles which can hit targets from distances up to 30 km.
38. Fortune Global 500 companies list has been released.
39. August 4 – National Bone and Joint Day
40. Gianluigi Buffon (Italian football goalkeeper) has announced retirement.
41. England cricketer Alex Hales has announced international retirement.
42. V. Jyothi Surekha, Aditi Swami, and Parneet Kaur won the gold medal in the World Archery Championships in Berlin by defeating Mexico.
43. Star Indian athlete Jyothi Yarraji won the World University Games in Chengdu by smashing her own national record in the women’s 100m hurdles and winning a bronze medal.
44. Jeswin Aldrin won the gold medal in World Athletics Continental Tour-Bronze event, Switzerland.
45. Teen chess champion Gukesh D has surpassed Grandmaster Viswanathan Anand as India’s highest-ranking chess player in the live world (FIDE) rankings.
46. India won the Asian Champions Trophy 2023 (football) by defeating Malaysia at the Mayor Radhakrishnan Stadium in Chennai.
47. For the first time ever, Subroto Mukerjee Sports Education Society (SMSES) has signed an MOU with All India Football Federation (AIFF) to promote football at grass root level.
48. Indian embassy in Kathmandu and the Ministry of Federal Affairs and General Administration of Nepal signed four MoUs to undertake the developmental projects, which will be built under the grant assistance of India.
49. Union Home Secretary Ajay kumar Bhalla was given a one-year extension till August 22, 2024.
50. Hun Manet was appointed as the Prime Minister of Cambodia.
51. The architect of India’s IT sector
    N Vittal has passed away.

National News

1. The President of India, Droupadi Murmu inaugurated ‘Unmesha’ – International Literature Festival and ‘Utkarsh’ – Festival of Folk and Tribal Performing Arts at Bhopal, Madhya Pradesh.
   Source: PIB
2. Union Minister for Education, Dharmendra Pradhan and Union Minister for External Affairs Dr S Jaishankar jointly launched Study in India (SII) portal to provide information about higher education institutions (HEIs) in India.
   • The portal will have information about the academic facilities, research support and related information available in the institutes.
   • It will be a one-stop spot for student registration, visa application process, choosing the desired courses and receiving offer letters from the institute.
   • Educational institutions which fulfil the given criteria will be a part of the Study in India programme –
   • National Institutional Ranking Framework (NIRF) ranking (<=100)
   • National Assessment and Accreditation Council (NAAC) accreditation score (>=3.01)
   • Institutes of National Importance (INI)
     Source: IE
3. Union Ministry of Education has chosen Oracle Cloud Infrastructure to modernise and upgrade its Diksha platform to provide educational resources to millions of additional students, teachers and collaborators across India.
   • The DIKSHA migration project is being implemented by two Oracle PartnerNetwork members, Bharti Airtel and Trigyn Technologies. DIKSHA will be deployed in the Oracle Cloud Mumbai region.

4. Godrej Security Solutions has secured a significant project to provide an advanced Key Management System to Satish Dhawan Space Centre SHAR (SDSC-SHAR), India’s esteemed Spaceport.
   • The state-of-the-art Key Management System aims to bolster security measures for one of the leading centres of the Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO).
     Source: FE

5. The Project Tiger division has been merged with Project Elephant and a new division with the name ‘Project Tiger and Elephant Division’ has been created under the Ministry of Environment, Forest and Climate Change (MoEF&CC).
   • Project Tiger –
     • Launch year – 1973
     • Number of tiger reserves – increased from 9 to 53
     • Tiger population – more than 70% of the world’s wild tigers are thriving in Indian forests
     • 50th anniversary – Celebration on April 9, 2023, in Mysore.
     • During the function, PM Modi launched the International Big Cat Alliance aimed at conserving big cats of the world on similar lines of Project Tiger.
   • Project Elephant –
     • Launch year – 1992
     • Mode – Centrally Sponsored Scheme
     • Elephant reserves – 33

6. National Health Authority (NHA) has announced the extension of its Digital Health Incentives Scheme (DHIS) under the Ayushman Bharat Digital Mission (ABDM) till 31st December 2023.
   • Under DHIS, incentives are provided to hospitals and diagnostic labs and to the providers of digital health solutions such as Hospital/ Health Management Information System (HMIS) and Laboratory Management Information System (LMIS) for adopting and enabling transformative digitization under ABDM.
   • The DHIS was launched with effect from 1st January 2023 as part of the Ayushman Bharat Digital Mission.
   • Under the DHIS, the eligible health facilities and digital solutions companies shall be able to earn financial incentives of up to 4 crores based on the number of digital health records created and linked to ABHA (Ayushman Bharat Health Account) numbers of the patients.
   • This incentive can be availed by the health facilities (hospitals, diagnostic labs) and Digital Solution Companies, registered with ABDM’s Health Facility Registry (HFR) and fulfilling the eligibility criterion specified under the scheme.
     Source: PIB

7. International Union for Conservation of Nature’s Species Survival Commission (SSC) and the Wildlife Trust of India (WTI) have partnered to establish the Center for Species Survival (CSS) for South Asia in India.
   • This will be the 10th Centre for Species Survival in the world and the first of its kind in South Asia.
     Source: Deccan Herald

   
   
8. Rajya Sabha has passed the Anusandhan National Research Foundation Bill, 2023 to replace the Science and Engineering Research Board Act, 2008.
   • The bill will dissolve Science and Engineering Research Board and create the Anusandhan National Research Foundation (NRF).
   • Functions of NRF – NRF will be the apex body in the country to provide strategic direction for research, innovation, and entrepreneurship in the fields of:

   (i) natural sciences including mathematics

   (ii) engineering and technology

   (iii) environmental and earth sciences

   (iv) health and agriculture, and

   (v) scientific and technological interfaces of humanities and social sciences

   • Funds for NRF – The Foundation will be financed through:

   (i) grants and loans from the central government,

   (ii) donations to the fund,

   (iii) income from investments of the amounts received by the Foundation, and

   (iv) all amounts with the Fund for Science and Engineering Research set up under the 2008 Act

   • Budget for NRF – Rs. 50,000 crore for five years (2023-28), out of which Rs. 36,000 crores, almost 80%, is going to come from non-government sources, from industry & philanthropists, from domestic as well as outside sources
   • Governing Board – NRF will have a Governing Board headed by the Prime Minister of India.
     • Other members of the Board are:

   (i) Union Ministers of Science and Technology, Education as Vice Presidents,

   (ii) Principal Scientific Advisor as Member Secretary, and

   (iii) Secretaries to the Departments of Science and Technology, Biotechnology, and Scientific and Industrial Research

   • The President of the Board may appoint or nominate additional members to the Board. These may include: (i) up to five members from business organisations or industries, (ii) one member from the fields of social sciences and humanities, and (iii) up to six experts from natural sciences, engineering, and technology.
   • The President may appoint a Chief Executive Officer, who should be of the rank of an Additional Secretary, or above.
   • The Foundation will have an Executive Council to undertake implementation, which will be chaired by the Principal Scientific Adviser to the Government of India.
     Source: PRS and PIB

   
   
   
   
9. Rajya Sabha has passed the Inter-Services Organisations (Command, Control and Discipline) Bill, 2023.
   • Purpose – to empower the Commander-in-Chief or Officer-in-Command of Inter-services Organisations to exercise disciplinary or administrative control over the service personnel under their command, irrespective of their service
   • Existing Inter-services Organisations (Andaman and Nicobar Command, the Defence Space Agency, and the National Defence Academy) will be deemed to have been constituted under the Bill.
     Source: PRS

10. The Sahitya Akademi will publish an anthology of poems with contributions from each of the G-20 nations to commemorate India’s presidency of the grouping.
    • The Sahitya Akademi is an autonomous body under the Union Culture Ministry.
    • The collection of poems, to be titled Under the Same Sky, has been curated by noted poet Ranjit Hoskote.
      Source: The Hindu

11. Prime Minister Narendra Modi laid the foundation stone for the redevelopment of 508 railway stations across the country under the Amrit Bharat Station scheme.
    • The redevelopment will cost around ₹25,000 crore.
    • These 508 stations are spread across 27 states and union territories, including 55 each in Uttar Pradesh and Rajasthan, 49 in Bihar, 44 in Maharashtra, 37 in West Bengal, among others.
    • Launched in February 2023, the Amrit Bharat Station Scheme envisages the development of stations on a continuous basis with a long-term approach.
    • The scheme was launched to redevelop 1,309 stations across the country.
      Source: HT

    
    
    
    
12. The construction of the India International Centre for Buddhist Culture and Heritage (IICBCH) formally began at Lumbini in Nepal.
    • In 2022, Prime Minister Narendra Modi laid the foundation stone for the construction of the Buddhist Centre.
      Source: ANI

13. India has provided financial assistance of Rs 45 crore to support Sri Lanka’s Unique Digital Identity Project.
    • The project aims to revolutionize the country’s administrative infrastructure and pave the way for more streamlined and efficient service delivery to its citizens.
      Source: NoA
14. ‘Digital India RISC-V’ Symposium was organised by IIT Madras and IIT-M Pravartak Technologies Foundation in Chennai.
    • ‘RISC’ stands for ‘Reduced Instruction Set Computer’ and ‘V’ stands for the fifth generation.
    • The RISC-V project began in 2010. The RISC-V foundation was formed in 2015 with IIT Madras being one of the founder members.
    • The RISC-V ISA enables a new era of processor innovation through open standard collaboration and aims to deliver a new level of free, extensible software and hardware freedom on architecture, paving the way for the next 50 years of computing design and innovation.
    • IIT-Madras developed ‘SHAKTI,’ India’s first indigenously designed microprocessor based on RISC-V ISA.
    • The DIR-V (Digital India RISC-V) Microprocessor Program was launched in 2022 to enable the creation of Microprocessors
      Source: PIB

State News

1. Kerala govt has launched ‘Shubhayatra’ project to provide financial support to first-time overseas emigrants from Kerala.
   • The project envisages creating a positive and productive migration ecosystem by providing a financial assistance of up to ₹2 lakh with a tax holiday for six months and attractive interest subvention to meet the incidental expense of eligible candidates.
     Source: The Hindu
2. Assam Chief Minister Himanta Biswa Sarma launched the Department of Forest & Environment’s Amrit Brikshya Andolan web portal/mobile application and the Wood-based Industry (WBI) registration web portal.
   • Along with this, the theme song for the Amrit Brikshya Andolan, an initiative aimed at planting a total of 1 crore (10 million) commercially viable saplings across the State by individuals from various walks of life on coming September 17.
     Source: ET
3. NABARD has sanctioned Rs 1,974.07 crore to the Rajasthan government under the Rural Infrastructure Development Fund (RIDF) for 2023-24.

4. Karnataka government formally launched ‘Gruha Jyothi’ scheme to provide up to 200 units of free power to households in the state.
   • Karnataka also launched ‘Gruha Lakshmi’ to provide Rs 2,000 monthly assistance to the woman head of every family.
   • ‘Yuva Nidhi’ scheme will provide Rs 3,000 every month for unemployed graduate youth and Rs 1,500 for unemployed diploma holders and it will be launched by December end or January.
     Source: TOI

   
   
5. Kerala govt has launched the ‘Athidhi portal’, a user-friendly web portal to expedite the registration process for migrant workers in Kerala and introduce a unique identification system for them.
   Source: ET
6. Union Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman laid the foundation stone for the establishment of a museum in Adichanallur, to showcase artefacts from ancient Tamil civilization, excavated from this archaeological site.
   • The announcement of setting up of the museum had been made in the Union Budget in 2020.
     Source: The Hindu

International News

1. Iraq has become the 18th country globally which has eliminated trachoma as a public health problem.
   • It has also become the fifth country in WHO’s Eastern Mediterranean Region to achieve this milestone.
   • Other countries which have eliminated Trachoma are Benin, Cambodia, China, Gambia, Ghana, Islamic Republic of Iran, Lao People’s Democratic Republic, Malawi, Mali, Mexico, Morocco, Myanmar, Nepal, Oman, Saudi Arabia, Togo and Vanuatu.
   • Iraq is also the 50th country to be acknowledged by WHO for eliminating at least one neglected tropical disease (NTD), globally.
   • WHO road map for neglected tropical diseases sets the target of eliminating NTDs in 100 countries by 2030.
   • The 2021–2030 neglected tropical disease road map targets the prevention, control elimination and eradication of 20 diseases and disease groups by 2030.
   • What is Trachoma? – Trachoma is a neglected tropical disease. It is caused by infection with the bacterium Chlamydia trachomatis, which spreads from person to person through contaminated fingers, fomites and flies that have come into contact with discharge from the eyes or nose of an infected person.
   • To eliminate trachoma as a public health problem, WHO recommends the SAFE strategy- a comprehensive approach to reduce transmission of the causative organism, clear existing infections and deal with their effects
   • SAFE strategy is being implemented in collaboration with Pfizer.

2. Food and Agriculture Organization’s (FAO) All Rice Price Index rose 8% in July from a month ago, which is the highest level in nearly 12 years as prices in key exporting countries jumped on strong demand.
   • The index averaged 129.7 points in July against 126.2 points for the previous month.
   • The July score was almost 20% higher than the last year’s 108.4 points and the highest since September 2011.
   • India accounts for 40% of world rice exports. Last month, India restricted the exports of rice to calm domestic prices.
   • India, Thailand, Vietnam, Cambodia and Pakistan are among leading exporters of rice. China, Philippines, Benin, Senegal, Nigeria and Malaysia are key importers of the staple.

3. Ethiopia has declared a state of emergency in the Amhara region due to a surge in violence between a local ethnic militia and the army.
   • Capital – Addis Ababa; Currency – Birr
   • Amhara is the site of the largest inland body of water in Ethiopia, Lake Tana (which is the source of the Blue Nile), and Semien Mountains National Park (which includes Ras Dashan, the highest point in Ethiopia).

Source: The Guardian

Banking and Economy

1. Financial services company Societe Generale (based in Paris) bought shares of private lender Bandhan Bank for Rs 382 crore through open market transactions.
   Source: BS
2. SEBI has allowed Offer for Sale (OFS) for units of private-listed Infrastructure Investment Trusts (InvlTs) through a stock exchange mechanism.
   • The new framework comes into force with immediate effect.
   • Now, the sponsors of the InvITs will be able to sell their shares in the market.
   • InvITs allow investors to invest in infrastructure projects. Privately placed InvITs can invest in under-construction assets as well as completed and revenue-generating assets and public InvITs can invest majorly in completed and revenue-generating assets.
   • The facility of OFS was already available in REITs, or real estate investment trusts.
     Source: ET
3. SEBI and Association of Portfolio Managers in India (APMI) will jointly set standards for performance audit of portfolio management services (PMS) companies.
   • PMS players are required to conduct a performance audit annually and submit a report within 60 days after the end of a financial year.
   • This performance audit needs to consider all clients’ portfolios managed by the PMS.
   • However, performance of advisory clients can be excluded only if it is not published in any marketing material or website.
   • The standard specified by APMI will be effective from October 1, 2023.
     Source: BS
4. IndusInd Bank and Tiger Fintech – a Bajaj Capital Group company, have launched the IndusInd Bank Tiger Credit Card, a co-branded credit card powered by Visa.
   • With this launch, customers will get access to best-in-class credit card to meet their lifestyle needs.
     Source: ET
5. IndiaFirst Life Insurance Company has launched a non-linked and non-participating product Guarantee of Life Dreams (G.O.L.D.) Plan, that offers policyholders regular long-term income.
   • The premium paying terms range between 6, 8, and 10 years for policy terms of 30 years and 40 years.
   • The starting premium is as low as ₹4,176 per month and offers the choice to pay annually or in instalments.
   • The plan offers three income options: immediate, intermediate and deferred.
     Source: ET
6. Department of Public Enterprises, Ministry of Finance, has upgraded the status of the Oil India Ltd (OIL) to Maharatna CPSE. It is now the 13th Maharatna CPSE.
   • About OIL –
     • The company posted a consolidated annual turnover of Rs 41,039 Crore and net profit of Rs 9,854 Crore for the FY 2022-23.
     • OIL earned the status of Navaratna in 2010. Having acquired a majority share of Numaligarh Refinery Ltd. (NRL) in 2021, OIL has now become an integrated energy company.
     • C&MD, OIL – Dr. Ranjit Rath
   • Oil and Natural Gas Company (ONGC) VIdesh has also been elevated to the status of Navaratna Company.
     • Its annual turnover is ₹11,676 crore and net profit of ₹1,700 crore for the Year 2022-23.

7. Gautam Adani-owned Ambuja Cements Ltd. has acquired a majority stake in Sanghi Industries at an enterprise value of ₹5,000 crore.
   • Ambuja Cements, a part of Adani Cement Ltd (ACL), will buy a 56.74% stake in Sanghi Industries Ltd. (SIL) from its existing promoter group Ravi Sanghi & family.
     Source: The Hindu

   
   
   
   
8. Oil and Natural Gas Corporation Limited (ONGC) has signed a term contract with Bharat Petroleum Corporation Limited (BPCL) for the sale of crude oil from the Mumbai region.
   • This agreement marks the first-ever term contract under the Marketing Freedom regime.
     Source: ET

   
   
9. Mastercard introduced the Cardholder Verification Code (CVC)-less online transactions for its debit and credit cardholders who have tokenized their cards on merchant platforms.
   • Purpose – to reduce the checkout time and make virtual transactions hassle-free and more secure
   • CVC/CVV (Card Verification Value) is the three-digit number printed on the back of debit and credit cards.
   • According to the RBI’s tokenization guidelines, merchants who adopt tokenized payments will collect CVC only once, which is while tokenizing the card. From the second transaction onwards, cardholders will be required to select their tokenized card from the checkout page, confirm the one-time password (OTP) and complete the transaction without keying in CVC.
     Source: Mastercard

   
   
   
   
10. NMDC Ltd has unveiled its new logo.
    • The new logo is a manifestation of NMDC’s vision of NMDC 2.0.
    • This logo communicates the responsibilities of NMDC towards mining in harmony with nature and people, towards ensuring mineral security & building mineral accountability, and towards infusing self-reliance in our sector.
      • The blue cog in the logo represents the mineral mining cycle, symbolizing the steadfastness and trust NMDC has earned over the decades.
      • At the center of the logo, a hand cradling the earth signifies NMDC’s commitment towards sustainable & responsible mining and also the global aspirations.
      • The vibrant green color symbolizes growth, renewal, and harmony with nature.
    • CMD, NMDC – Amitava Mukherjee

11. Petroleum and Natural Gas Regulatory Board (PNGRB) has collaborated with the World Bank to prepare a roadmap for hydrogen blending in natural gas and their transmission through gas pipelines in the country.
    • They will study demand and supply of hydrogen, technical assessment of the existing pipeline network for its compatibility, commercial assessment of pipeline sector, identifying bottlenecks in policy and regulatory framework, and framing of roadmap till 2040 for expeditious implementation of hydrogen blending in India.
    • India aims to achieve the national target of 5 million metric tonnes per annum of hydrogen consumption by 2030.

12. Ministry of Finance has imposed a definitive anti-dumping duty on certain optical fibre imports from China, South Korea and Indonesia to give some relief to the domestic optical fibre industry reeling under the adverse impact of low-price and low-quality imports.
    • Based on the recommendations of the Directorate General of Trade Remedies (DGTR), the revenue department has imposed an anti-dumping duty on dispersion unshifted Single-Mode Optical Fiber (SMOF) imports from China, South Korea and Indonesia.
    • The anti-dumping duty ranges from $122 per kfkm to $857.23 per kfkm, with the commodity being traded in fkm (fibre kilometres).
    • This definitive anti-dumping duty will be valid for 5 years.
      Source: HBL

GDP Forecasts

1. S&P Global Ratings has forecasted India to grow at 6.7% between FY24 and FY31 and double the size of the economy to $6.7 trillion within the next eight years.
   • It forecasted India’s per capita GDP to increase to $4,500 by FY31.
   • Maharashtra, Tamil Nadu, Karnataka, Uttar Pradesh will be India’s top growing states over the coming decade, with Maharashtra inching closer to a $1 trillion economy part by 2030.
   • Maharashtra GDP is expected to reach $824.51bn and Tamil Nadu is forecast to reach $650.34bn by 2030.
     Source: ET

Defence News

1. Indian Air Force (IAF) has received the Israeli Spike Non-Line of Sight (NLOS) anti-tank guided missiles which can hit targets from distances up to 30 km.
   • The NLOS missiles will be integrated with the Russian-origin fleet of Mi-17V5 helicopters which will be able to take-out targets from long ranges and can prove to be very effective against enemy targets and assets hidden behind mountains or hills.
     Source: TOI
   
   
   
   

Awards

1. Fortune Global 500 companies list has been released.
   • From India – Reliance Industries (88th rank), Indian Oil Corporation (94th rank)
   • Walmart has been on the top of the list for 16 of the past 20 years.
   • Saudi Aramco is valued at over $2 trillion. Aramco’s net profits last year were $159 billion. That makes it the most profitable business in the world.
     • It is the third most valuable company, and the most profitable business, in the world.

Source: Fortune and Saudi Aramco

Important Days

1. August 4 – National Bone and Joint Day
   Source: IE

Sports

1. Gianluigi Buffon (Italian football goalkeeper) has announced retirement.
   Source: Al Jazeera
2. England cricketer Alex Hales has announced international retirement.
   Source: IE
3. Jyothi Surekha, Aditi Swami, and Parneet Kaur from India won the gold medal in the World Archery Championships in Berlin by defeating Mexico.
   Source: Sportstar
4. Star Indian athlete Jyothi Yarraji won the World University Games in Chengdu by smashing her own national record in the women’s 100m hurdles and winning a bronze medal.
   • It was India’s first ever 100m hurdles medal at the World University Games.
     Source: TOI
5. Jeswin Aldrin won the gold medal in World Athletics Continental Tour-Bronze event, Switzerland.
   • Alejandro Parada of Cuba finished second.
     Source: Olympics
6. Teen chess champion Gukesh D has surpassed Grandmaster Viswanathan Anand as India’s highest-ranking chess player in the live world (FIDE) rankings.
   • Grandmaster Viswanathan Anand’s was the top ranker for 37 years.
     Source: ET
7. India won the Asian Champions Trophy 2023 (football) by defeating Malaysia at the Mayor Radhakrishnan Stadium in Chennai.
   Source: TOI

Memorandum of Understanding

1. For the first time ever, Subroto Mukerjee Sports Education Society (SMSES) has signed an MOU with All India Football Federation (AIFF) to promote football at grass root level.
   • As part of this MoU, from this edition onwards, a Subroto XI team will be formed in Junior Boys (U-17) category. The team will participate in AIFF Youth Competition from the 2023-24 season.
   • To update and educate coaches, an education workshop will be undertaken by AIFF for coaches of final round teams at Delhi and Bengaluru.

2. Indian embassy in Kathmandu and the Ministry of Federal Affairs and General Administration of Nepal signed four MoUs to undertake the developmental projects, which will be built under the grant assistance of India.
   • Among the four projects, three will be in the education sector and one project in Water Supply and Sanitation, at a total estimated cost of NRs. 170 million.
     Source: BS

   
   

Appointments

1. Union Home Secretary Ajay kumar Bhalla was given a one-year extension till August 22, 2024.
   Source: ET
2. Hun Manet was appointed as the Prime Minister of Cambodia.
   Source: TOI

Miscellaneous

1. The architect of India’s IT sector N Vittal has passed away.
   • He was the former Telecom Secretary and Central Vigilance Commissioner (CVC).
     Source: HBL

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