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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.
