Important Current Affairs 4th August

GST Bill Passed in Rajya Sabha

1. The Rajya Sabha has passed the Goods and Services Tax (GST) Constitutional Amendment Bill which the Lok Sabha had already approved last year.
2. The legislation was approved by the Rajya Sabha with 203 votes in favour and none against.
3. The main objective of the GST is to eliminate excessive taxation.
4. GST is a uniform indirect tax levied on goods and services across a country.

SBI to Offer OD to 7L Jan Dhan Holders

1. SBI has identified 7 lakh accounts,which were opened under the Pradhan Mantri Jan Dhan Yojana (PMJDY) for providing overdraft facility.
2. Amount of loans depends up on account holder’s turnover.
3. This is basically for the people who have sufficient turnover in their accounts to get an overdraft
4. People who are belonging to low-income group & have opened accounts under PMJDY are eligible.

NTPC Raises Rs 2,000 crore

1. NTPC became the second Indian company to raise funds selling masala bonds.
2. The company raised Rs 2,000 crore by selling bonds that will pay overseas investors interest in rupees at an yield of 7.48%.
3. Masala Bonds are rupee-denominated borrowings by Indian entities in overseas markets.
4. Bonds will mature in five years.
5. Mortgage lender HDFC has kick-started the masala bonds raising Rs 3,000 crore.

LS Pass Bill to Fast Track Debt Recovery

1. The Lok Sabha has passed a law empowering banks to take possession of collateral in the case of loan default.
2. The Enforcement of Security Interest & Recovery of Debts Laws & Miscellaneous Provisions (Amendment) Bill, 2016 seeks to amend 4 laws — the Sarfaesi Act, the DRT Act, the Indian Stamp Act & the Depositories Act.
3. Jaitley said the banks must be empowered to take effective legal action.

Infosys Invests in Start-up Cloudyn

1. IT services major Infosys has invested $4 million in Cloudyn.
2. Israeli-based Cloudyn is a start-up that enables corporates to monitor their cloud computing usage & optimise its usage.
3. Cloudyn supports multiple infrastructure services including Amazon Web Services & Microsoft Azure.
4. All these efforts are part of CEO Vishal Sikka strategy to take the company towards the $20 billion target by 2020-21.

Cabinet Approves 3 percent SUC

1. The Cabinet has approved 3 percent annual usage charge for the spectrum to be sold in upcoming auction.
2. The government expects to raise at least Rs 64,000 crore from the auction of about 2,300 Mhz of spectrum and Rs 98,995 crore from various levies.
3. As per the decision, spectrum to be sold in the different bands will attract SUC at the rate of 3% of the Adjusted Gross Revenue.

Vijender Breaks into Top 10 WBO Ranking

1. Vijender Singh broke into the World Boxing Organisation’s (WBO) rankings at 10th.
2. His rise in the rankings is due to his championship win over Kerry Hope for the Asia Pacific super middleweight champion last month.
3. Singh was unbeaten with six wins before facing Hope for the WBC European champion last month.
4. Currently, Vijender is unbeaten with seven wins, out of which six have been knockouts.

Narsingh Yadav Gets Clearance From UWW

1. Narsingh Yadav has got the go ahead of United World Wrestling (UWW) to compete in the Rio Olympics.
2. He was already cleared by the National Anti-Doping Agency (NADA).
3. The UWW has permitted Narsingh to participate in all international competitions.
4. He has to wait for a WADA clearance as well.
5. WADA can appeal against a decision of Anti-Doping Disciplinary Panel of any of its member countries.

India vs WI 2nd Test Ends in a Draw

1. The second Test match between India and the West Indies ended in a draw.
2. WI Roston Chase hit his maiden Test hundred to lead the host fightback.
3. Chase came up with a resolute 137 off 269 balls and in the process raised three match-saving partnerships with his teammates.
4. He became only the fourth West Indies player to score a hundred & claim a five-wicket haul in same match.

Brazil Kick off at Home with 3-0 Win

1. Brazil got off to a winning start in South America’s first Olympic Games when the women’s football team beat China 3-0 in host city Rio de Janeiro.
2. Although the opening ceremony will takes place on Friday.
3. The football competitions begin ahead of time.
4. Brazil got off to the perfect start with a commanding performance in front of their home crowd in at the Olympic stadium in Rio de Janeiro.

BJP Accepts Anandiben’s Resignation

1. The BJP Parliamentary Board has accepted the resignation of Gujarat Chief Minister Anandiben Patel.
2. The body has authorised party president Amit Shah to look for a replacement for Ms.Patel.
3. Party leaders Nitin Gadkari & Saroj Pandey have been appointed as observers for electing the new Gujarat CM.
4. Ms. Patel has offered to resign at a time when the party is facing unrest & rising anti-incumbency.

Cabinet Gives Nod to Road Safety Bill

1. The govt has approved the Motor Vehicle (Amendment) Bill, 2016.
2. The bill proposes hefty penalties for violation of traffic norms including up to Rs.10,000 fine for drunken driving.
3. The bill also has provision of up to Rs.10 lakh compensation in case of road fatality.
4. The provisions also include that guardian/owner will be deemed to be guilty in case of road offence by juveniles.

Artist Anita Gopalan Gets PEN/Heim Grant

1. Translator and artist Anita Gopalan has been awarded the 2016 PEN/Heim Translation Fund Grant.
2. She was awarded for her English translation of Hindi novel “ Simsim ” by Geet Chaturvedi.
3. Ms. Gopalan is the second Indian translator to be selected for the grant.
4. Her translations have appeared in several international journals.
5. PEN America is a renowned literary organisation of the United States.

SAARC Immigration Authorities Meet Held

1. The 7th meeting of SAARC Immigration Authorities was held in Islamabad.
2. Pakistan’s Director General Immigration and Passports Usman A. Bajwa chaired the meeting.
3. It reviewed different areas to maximize the potential of visa exemption scheme launched among the member countries in 1992.
4. It also deliberated on development of security software for SAARC visa exemption scheme and immigration matters.

Prachanda Elected Nepal Prime Minister

1. Maoist chief Prachanda was elected by lawmakers as Nepal’s Prime Minister for a second time.
2. He will take over as the 39th Prime Minister of Nepal
3. He was elected Prime Minister with 363 votes in favour & 210 against him,out of the total 595 members,22 did not vote.
4. He  had pledged to lead the nation toward economic development
5. He has also become the first communist leader to become the PM twice.

China’s Online Population Exceeds 700 m

1. The number of Internet users in China has touched 710 million, more than half of the total population of the country.
2. China is already home to the world’s largest number of web users.
3. The country internet users accounting for 51.7 per cent of its total population
4. The China Internet Network Information Centre (CNNIC) said that 92.5 % of Internet users in China go online through their smartphones.

Indian Origin Girl Named Child Genius

1. Indian-origin girl has been crowned Britain’s brightest child after she won a popular television quiz competition in the UK.
2. Rhea shot ahead in the final of ‘Child Genius 2016’ on Channel 4 with six correct answers.
3. She correctly spelled the word “eleemosynary”, meaning relating to charity,to claim the title.
4. She had moved to the UK with her family from the US six years ago.

Vietnam Assures India Support for UNSC

1. Vietnam has assured that it will support India’s candidature for a permanent seat at the UN Security Council (UNSC).
2. The assurance came by Vu Hong Nam,Vice-Foreign Minister of Vietnam during his meeting with Preeti Saran, Secretary, East, Ministry of External Affairs (MEA).
3. Both sides met for the 8th Foreign Office Consultations (FOC) and 5th Strategic Dialogue in New Delhi.

China’s Elevated Bus Hits the Road

1. China has made world’s first Transit Elevated Bus.
2. The first road test was made in North China Hebei Province in Qinhuangdao.
3. China’s homemade Transit Elevated Bus is also named as “Straddling Bus” (TEB – 1).
4. The futuristic bus is 22 meters long, 4.8 meters high & 7.8 meters wide where cars can go underneath of the elevated bus.
5. The biggest advantage is that the bus will save lots of road space.