Monetary Policy:
RBI cuts policy rate by 25 basis points to 6%
Monetary Policy Committee (MPC), headed by Urjit
Patel, decided to reduce the Policy Repo Rate under the liquidity adjustment
facility (LAF) by 25 basis points from 6.25 per cent to 6.0 per cent with
immediate effect.
Consequently, the reverse repo rate under the LAF stands
adjusted to 5.75 per cent, and the marginal standing facility (MSF) rate and
the Bank Rate to 6.25 per cent.
KeyPoints -
Dr. Urjit Patel is the 24th Governor of RBI.
RBI is headquartered in Mumbai.
Airtel Payment
Bank ties up with HPCL for ATM services
Airtel Payments Bank, India’s first payments bank has
announced a strategic partnership with Hindustan Petroleum
Corporation Limited (HPCL) to give further boost to digital payments in
the country and to add to customer convenience.
All 14,000 HPCL fuel stations will act as banking
points for Airtel Payments Bank. All Airtel Payments Bank customers would
be able to access a range of convenient banking services at these fuel stations
like opening new accounts, make cash deposits and withdrawals facility, and
transfer money.
KeyPoints -
Shashi Arora is the present MD and CEO of Airtel Payment
Bank.
First Airtel Payment Bank was opened in Rajasthan.
World
breastfeeding week – August 1-7, 2017
World breastfeeding week 2017 is being celebrated
from 1st to 7th August 2017 with the theme “Sustaining
Breastfeeding Together”.
It was first celebrated in 1992 by World Alliance for
Breastfeeding World Breastfeeding WeekAction (WABA) and is now observed
in over 120 countries by United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF), World Health
Organization (WHO) and their partners including individuals, organizations, and
governments.
KeyPoints -Headquarter of UNICEF is in New York, United States.
China opens its
first overseas Military base in Djibouti
China formally opened its first overseas
military base with a flag raising ceremony in Djibouti in the
Horn of Africa, the same day as the People's Liberation Army marks its 90th
birthday.
Djibouti's position on the northwestern edge of the
Indian Ocean has fueled worry in India that it would become another of China's
"string of pearls" military alliances and assets ringing India,
including Bangladesh, Myanmar, and Sri Lanka.
KeyPoints -Djiboutian franc is the currency of Djibouti.
PM Modi
announces Rs2,350-crore flood relief for North-East
Prime Minister Narendra Modi announced a package of Rs2,350
crore for all North-East states for mitigating the impact of floods on
short- and long-term basis.
In addition to that, the Prime Minister has announced a
Rs100 crore corpus for setting up a research project to study the Brahmaputra
and its role in creating devastating flood. Out of the Rs 2350 crore announced
by the PM, Rs 1200 crore will be given by the Union.
KeyPoints -The Seven Sister States are the contiguous states of
Arunachal Pradesh, Assam, Meghalaya, Manipur, Mizoram, Nagaland, and Tripura in
northeastern India.
Supreme Court
bans use of Five Metals in Firecrackers
The Supreme Court of India imposed a ban on the use of
five harmful metals viz lithium, mercury, arsenic, antimony, and lead in
firecrackers. The bench was headed by Justice Madan B Lokur.
The Supreme Court maintained that it is the
responsibility of the Petroleum and Explosives Safety Organisation (PESO) to
ensure compliance of ban particularly in Sivakasi in Tamil Nadu where
there are a large number of firecracker manufacturers.
The court asked CPCB (Central Pollution Control Board)
and PESO to make collaborative efforts for setting up standards with regards to
air pollution caused by the bursting of fire crackers.
KeyPoints - PESO is a department that controls and administers
manufacture, storage, transport and handling of explosives, petroleum,
compressed gasses and other hazardous substances in India. It is headquartered at Nagpur, Maharashtra.
SBI debit cards
now on Samsung Pay app
Smartphone-maker Samsung, which recently launched
its digital wallet app Samsung Pay in India, has tied up with State
Bank of India to store higher variants of SBI debit cards on the app.
This collaboration turns the Samsung smartphones into
electronic card-holders and users can pay at point-of-sale (PoS) terminals with
just a tap on the cards stored in Samsung Pay.
Samsung Pay works on 2.5 million
PoS card machines across the country through its magnetic secure transmission
(MST) technology.
KeyPoints - Samsung Electronics Co. Ltd. is Headquartered in South
Korea. /Lee Kun-hee is the Chairman of the Samsung Group.
Dhrupad maestro Ustad
Hussain Sayeeduddin Dagar passes away
Ustad Hussain Sayeeduddin Dagar, a classical
vocalist and one of the leading exponents of Dhrupad tradition, passed away
following a brief illness in Pune. He was 78.
Dhrupad is a Sanskrit blend of Dhruva (immovable) and Pad
(verse).
It has its roots in ancient times, it was first mentioned in 3rd
Century B.C. in the Natyashastra.
