The Daily Brief – 3rd August 2017

The Daily Briefs are a comprehensive update of current affairs for the day. If you’d like to receive updates for current affairs every day, you’ll need to subscribe by entering your email address at the right side of this page. The previous Briefs can be accessed at the archives here. You can thank Aparajita Kaul in the comments below for this brief! Also, check out our test series!

• The Union Cabinet has approved a proposal to extend proxy voting to Non-Resident Indians (NRIs) and overseas Indians. Presently, only service personnel are permitted to vote through proxy. The government is going to introduce a bill to amend the Representation of People Act.
• The Lok Sabha has passed the Central Goods and Services Tax (Extension to Jammu and Kashmir) Bill, 2017 and the Integrated Goods and Services Tax (Extension to Jammu and Kashmir) Bill, 2017.
• The National Bank for Agriculture and Rural Development (Amendment) Bill, 2017 has been passed by the Lok Sabha by voice vote. The Bill will amend the NABARD Act, 1981. The Bill orders Union Government to increase capital of NABARD to Rs 30,000 crore from Rs. 5000 crores and that the Union Government alone must hold at least 51% capital share of NABARD.
• The Banking Regulation (Amendment) Bill, 2017 has been passed in the Lok Sabha by voice vote. It will replace the Banking Regulation (Amendment) Ordinance, 2017. It will insert provisions for handling cases related to stressed assets or non-performing assets (NPAs) of banks. Stressed assets (NPAs) are loans defaulted by borrower in repayment or the loan which has been restructured by changing the repayment schedule.
• Securities and Exchange Board of India (SEBI) has established a committee on ‘fair market conduct’. It will be headed former law secretary, T K Viswanathan. The committee will suggest measures for improving surveillance of the markets and strengthen rules for algorithm trades etc.
• The Indian Army has developed Humraaz mobile application through which serving soldiers can track details like postings and promotions. The app will also enable soldiers to view their monthly salary slips, Form 16 and also download them.
• Israel has launched its first environmental research satellite calledVenus (Vegetation and Environment Monitoring New Micro-Satellite). The Israel Space Agency (ISA) and its French counterpart CNES have collaborated for this. It was launched on board of Arianespace Vega launcher from the European spaceport in Kourou, French Guiana.

Today’s Quiz