Thursday, August 27, 2015

Starred Articles

Greek PM Tsipras resigns, paves way for new elections
World > Greece
After losing support from the members of his own Syriza party, Greek Prime Minister Alexis Tsipras announced his resignation making way for snap elections hoping to return to power with a strong hold. The rebels in his leftist Syriza party had opposed his backing of the demands of international creditors for yet more austerity and economic reform in exchange for a new $96 billion bailout. Meanwhile, 25 members of the left wing of Syriza have announced they are breaking away to form a separate party called Popular Unity.

PM Narendra Modi government to revive National Council for Tribal Welfare
Politics and Government > NCTW
The National Council for Tribal Welfare, an advisory and planning body, which was set up by the then Congress-led UPA government will be revived by the now Narendra Modi-led NDA government. The council will be headed by Prime Minister Narendra Modi and will work towards a better planning and monitoring of tribal welfare schemes. The members of the council will be the all Schedule V and Schedule VI states that have sizeable tribal populations.

IS demolish Palmyra's historic Baalshamin temple
World > Terrorism
The temple of Baalshamin which was situated in Palmyra, a Unesco World Heritage site was blown up by the Islamic State militants. With the belief that shrines or statues implying the existence of another deity are sacrilege and idolatry, the Islamic State group has been destroying several ancient sites in Iraq for a while now.

Patel row disrupts Gujarat, Hardik Patel calls for 'Gujarat Bandh'
India > Guajrat
An overnight violence erupted in Gujrat as protesters rampaged through the city by attacking the security personnel and burning government and private vehicles. 5,000 paramilitary personnel were rushed to Gujarat to control the agitation. The protestors were the supporters of 22-year-old Hardik Patel, who was briefly detained over his hunger strike to demand OBC reservation for the Patel community. The Patel community of Gujarat has been agitating for around a month to fulfil their demands of reservation under the Other Backward Class (OBC) status. Hardik has called for a state-wide bandh on Wednesday.

Others

11 applicants including RIL, Aditya Birla Nuvo & Airtel get RBI's 'in-principle' approval for payment banks
Banking and Insurance > RBI
Eleven applicants who had sought licenses for setting up payments banks that will provide essential facilities aimed at covering the segment of population that has no access to financial services, have received in principle' approval from Reserve Bank of India. They will be able to offer only basic services. They can accept up to Rs 1, 00,000 as deposits per account, issue ATM and debit cards and offer payments and remittance services. The risk is less because they cannot extend loans and have to invest 75 per cent of their deposits in government securities. Among the applicants are Reliance Industries, India Post, Bharti Airtel, Vodafone and Paytm. According to RBI, applicants were assessed on financial soundness along with their ability to reach customers with technology.

India to participate in EXPO-2017 to be held in Kazakhstan
Economy > EXPO-2017
India has announced its participation in at the major international exposition EXPO-2017 to be held in Central Asia's biggest country Kazakhstan. Rapil Zhoshybayev, Commissioner of the International specialized exhibition EXPO-2017 and First Deputy Minister of Foreign Affairs of Kazakhstan had visited India to promote the main ideas and themes of EXPO-2017 in in the country. His visit played a crucial role in the India's decision to participate in the event. The two countries also discussed the prospects of bilateral cooperation in the fields of political cooperation, trade and tourism.

Greek PM Tsipras resigns, paves way for new elections
Politics and Government > Greece
After losing support from the members of his own Syriza party, Greek Prime Minister Alexis Tsipras announced his resignation making way for snap elections hoping to return to power with a strong hold. The rebels in his leftist Syriza party had opposed his backing of the demands of international creditors for yet more austerity and economic reform in exchange for a new $96 billion bailout. Meanwhile, 25 members of the left wing of Syriza have announced they are breaking away to form a separate party called Popular Unity.

Sri Lanka's Kumar Sangakkara retires after 15 years
Sports > Cricket
Sri Lanka's ace cricketer, Kumar Sangakkara retired after 15 years of his career in cricket and played his last test against Inida in Colombo. Sangakkara has cemented his name as the fifth highest run-getter in Test history, finished his Test career with 12,400 runs from 134 Tests at an average of 57.40. He scored 38 centuries, including a best of 319 against Bangladesh in Chittagong last year. Sangakkara was welcomed by a guard of honour formed by rival Indian team to applaud the veteran cricketer as he walked out to bat on the day of his last match. The whole stadium reverberated with applause when the 37-year-old left-hander and the fifth-highest run-getter in Test history came out of the dressing room.

Serena Williams wins Cincinnati title in final US Open
Sport > Tennis
Serena Willians gained her fifth title of 2015 when she won the Western & Southern Open in Cincinnati. Williams beat Romanian third seed Simona Halep to finish her last US Open tune-up in style. Halep, who also lost the Toronto final last week, will take over second spot from Maria Sharapova in the world rankings. Williams will be bidding for history at the US Open as she attempts to complete a rare calendar-year Grand Slam in singles.

DRDO ties up with Ramdev to market herbal products
India > DRDO
Yoga guru Ramdev's Patanjali Ayurveda Limited will now be able to widen its reach of herbal products across the country and abroad, following a deal with India's premier defence research organisation DRDO. The two parties have entered into the agreement for transfer of Seabuckthorn technology based products developed by Defence Institute of High Altitude Research (DIHAR), a laboratory which develops technologies for fresh food cultivation, poultry, goat and dairy farming and green house cultivation which are disseminated to the local farmers. DRDO is looking forward to commercialize these technologies for the benefit of the local population.

DRDO ties up with Ramdev to market herbal products
India > DRDO
Yoga guru Ramdev's Patanjali Ayurveda Limited will now be able to widen its reach of herbal products across the country and abroad, following a deal with India's premier defence research organisation DRDO. The two parties have entered into the agreement for transfer of Seabuckthorn technology based products developed by Defence Institute of High Altitude Research (DIHAR), a laboratory which develops technologies for fresh food cultivation, poultry, goat and dairy farming and green house cultivation which are disseminated to the local farmers. DRDO is looking forward to commercialize these technologies for the benefit of the local population.

Names for Dronacharya Award approved by Sports Ministry
Awards > Sports
The Sport Ministry approved the recipients of the prestigious Dronacharya Award on the basis of the recommendations of the Committee and after due scrutiny. Wrestling coach Anoop Singh and Paralympics coach Naval Singh were among the five names officially approved. Anoop Singh is a three-time national champion and international wrestler who has trained some of the country's finest wrestlers. The awards will be handed out on August 29th by the President of India.

Government to infuse Rs 5,393 Cr in SBI
India > SBI
State Bank of India has decided to issue equity shares on a preferential basis to the government for capital infusion of Rs 5,393 crore. An approval to increase the issued capital by raising additional equity share capital up to Rs 5,393 crore was sought from the government by the bank. Earlier this month, the government had decided to to infuse a total of Rs 20,088 crore in 13 public sector banks.

Facebook launches 'Donate Now' button for non-profits
Science and Technology > Facebook
Now pages of non-profit organizations and linked advertisements will have a 'Donate' button, following its launch by Facebook recently. Whenever the users click the “Donate Now” button on a non-profit’s page they are first alerted that the organization is “Not endorsed by or affiliated with Facebook” and then are redirected to the non-profit’s external site where they can complete the donation. This move is an effort for the company to further themselves from donations being given to potentially unpopular non-profit causes.

Kosovo and Serbia sign 'landmark' agreements
World > Europe
In a series of agreements signed between Kosovo and Serbia, Serbs in northern Kosovo will enjoy greater rights through one of the deals, while Kosovo gains its own international dialling code in another. The agreements were called “landmark achievements” by EU's foreign policy chief, Federica Mogherini, who mediated them. Both sides look forward to joining EU which will apparently become easier after these agreements.

US, Mexico launch first rail link in more than a century
World > International Railways

A first rail-link is set to be built connecting the US and Mexico and and is the first new rail link in over a century. According to the US Commerce Department, the West Rail Bypass International Bridge will connect Brownsville with Matamoros, its neighboring city across the border, and will carry freight between the two countries. Before the new bridge opened, there were eight rail crossings between the United States and Mexico. 

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