1. Govt. signs historic peace accord with Naga rebels
(i) The Centre and National Socialist Council of Nagaland (NSCN-IM) signed a historic peace agreement with the view to develop the Northeast region and usher in peace.
(ii) The accord was signed in the presence of Prime Minister Narendra Modi, Home Minister Rajnath Singh and National Security Advisor Ajit Doval by the outfit’s leader Thuingaleng Muivah and government’s interlocutor RN Ravi.
(iii) The accord is a culmination of 80 rounds of negotiations stretched over a period of 16 years.
2. RBI to issue first set of differential bank licences by August-end
(i) To promote financial inclusion, the RBI has decided to issue the first set of differential bank licences – small finance and payments banks- by August-end.
(ii) While announcing the bi-monthly monetary policy the RBI Governor said, “I hope to announce at least one set of bank licences (either small finance or payments banks) before the end of this month.”
(iii) The decision was spurred by recommendations from external advisory committees (EACs) in January 2014. The Nachiket Mor committee (payment banks) and Usha Thorat committee (small finance banks).
3. Indian banks no longer need security clearance to open foreign branches
(i) Minister of State for Home Haribhai Parathibhai Chaudhary announced in Lok Sabha on August 4 that the Indian banks and multi system operators (MSOs) wanting to open foreign branches may no longer require prior security clearances.
(ii) With these changes, the aim is to balance national security essentialities and promoting investment and ease of conducting business in the country.
4. Govt. sanctions rooftop solar power plants
(i) Minister of State for Power, Coal & New and Renewable Energy enumerated steps to encourage installation of grid-connected solar rooftop systems and said that low-cost financing is an important factor of its promotion.
Under the, ‘Grid-Connected Rooftop and Small Solar Power Plants Programme’, 360 mega-watt peak (MWp) projects have been sanctioned and 54 MWp aggregate capacity of projects have been installed in the country.
Other steps include:
* Target set for installation of 40,000 MWp by year 2022.
* 15% government subsidy for non-commercial and non-industrial usage of domestic solar panels.
* Accelerated depreciation benefits for industrial and commercial buildings.
* Custom duty concessions and excise duty exemptions.
* 10-year tax holiday.
* Loans available under priority sector lending up to Rs.10 lakhs for individuals.
* Provision of bank loans as a part of home loans/ home improvement loans.
* Loans for system aggregators from Indian Renewable Energy Development Agency Limited (IREDA) at concessional interest rate (9.9% to 10.75% per annum)
* Electricity Regulatory Commissions of 19 States/UTs have notified regulations for grid connectivity, net-metering/feed-in-tariff mechanism.
5. Facebook unveils internet drone named Aquila
(i) Mark Zuckerberg, CEO of Facebook on August 3 unveiled Aquila, a fully solar-powered drone that can beam Internet into the most remote regions across the globe.
(ii) The drone has the wingspan of a ‘Boeing 737’ and is said to be lighter than a car. It was developed in the company’s connectivity lab.
(iii) With the launch of its Internet.org, Facebook targets to provide basic internet services to people who live even in the most remote region, with the help of mobile service providers.
6. Gymnast Dipa Karmakar wins bronze at Asian Championships
(i) A year after Indian gymnast Dipa Karmakar became the first Indian woman and second person to have won a medal in the Commonwealth Games, she clinched a bronze at the recently concluded Asian Championship.
(ii) Dipa, an artistic gymnast, bagged a women’s vault bronze medal, making India and her home state Tripura proud.
To follow our Bank PO, SSC-CGL and UPSC portal on Facebook and Twitter, click on the following links:
Bank PO:
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/pagalguybankpo
Twitter: https://twitter.com/PaGaLGuYBankPO
SSC – CGL: https://www.facebook.com/pages/Pagalguy-SSC-CGL-Others/879667042056262
Twitter: https://twitter.com/pagalguyssc
UPSC:
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/pages/Pagalguy-UPSC/951926044840262
Twitter: https://twitter.com/PaGaLGuYUPSC