National News

1. 4th Rashtriya Hindi Vigyan Sammelan 2024 held in Bhopal

The 4th edition of the Rashtriya Hindi Vigyan Sammelan 2024 was held in the Madhya Pradesh capital, Bhopal.
The Chief Minister of Madhya Pradesh, Dr Mohan Yadav, inaugurated the 4th Rashtriya Hindi Vigyan Sammelan 2024.
Theme 2024 – Upgradation of National Scientific Consciousness in Amrit Kaal
The conference’s primary aim was to offer a platform for researchers to present and discuss their work in Hindi, fostering the popularisation of science and technology through this language.
The conference featured six sessions on diverse topics of Science, Technology, Ayurveda, Engineering, and Science Communication.
The 4th Rashtriya Hindi Vigyan Sammelan 2024 was organised by the Council of Scientific and Industrial Research-Advanced Materials and Processes Research Institute (CSIR-AMPRI), Bhopal.

2. Indexation on LTCG 2024

The new LTCG regime proposed in the Union Budget does away with the indexation benefit available for calculation of LTCG on property, gold, and other unlisted assets.
It reduced the long-term capital gains (LTCG) tax rate to 12.5% from 20%.
It stated that this was to “ease computation of capital gains for the taxpayer and tax administration”.
For properties and other assets purchased prior to 2001, the fair market value as on April 1, 2001 would be considered as the cost of acquisition.
Indexation is the process of adjusting the original purchase price of an asset or investment in order to neutralise the impact of inflation on it.
It involves revising upward the cost of acquisition of an asset based on the inflation over the period for which it was held.

International News

4. Second Thomas Shoal in South China Sea

China and the Philippines have struck a deal to defuse tensions on a contested shoal in the South China Sea.
It lays out provisional terms to replenish Filipino troops on the Second Thomas Shoal.
The shoal lies about 200km (124 miles) from the western Philippine Island of Palawan and more than 1,000km (620 miles) from China’s southern Hainan Island.

5. Yellow sea - Bohai Gulf

China's Migratory Bird Sanctuaries along the Yellow Sea-Bohai Gulf (Phase II) were added to the UNESCO World Heritage List.
It spans conservation zones in Hebei, Shandong, and Liaoning, as well as other provinces and cities.
Bohai Gulf is the innermost gulf of the Yellow Sea on the coast of Northeastern and North China.
The Bohai Gulf is enclosed by the Liaodong Peninsula (northeast) and the Shandong Peninsula (south).
In earlier times it was called the Gulf of Chili or the Gulf of Pechili.
The Yellow Sea is a marginal sea of the western Pacific Ocean.

6. World Tariff Profiles 2024

The 2024 World Tariff Profiles was published by the WTO, International Trade Centre (ITC), and UN Trade and Development (UNCTAD).
India was the second country after the US in initiating and imposing antidumping duties among World Trade Organisation (WTO).
Despite increasing the use of non-tariff measures in 2023, India’s average tariffs fell to 17 per cent from 18.1 per cent in 2022.
In 2023, India initiated 45 anti-dumping investigations and imposed duties in 14 cases.
But the US started 64 investigations and imposed additional duties in 14 cases.
India has a total of 133 anti-dumping measures affecting 418 products.
In 2022, India led WTO members with 29 anti-dumping investigations.
Average tariffs on non-agricultural imports dropped to 13.5 per cent in 2023 from 14.7 per cent in 2022.
Agricultural tariffs also fell to 39 per cent from 39.6 per cent.

7. Hamas chief Ismail Haniyeh

Top Hamas leader Ismail Haniyeh killed in attack on Iran residence.
Haniyeh led Hamas's political operations from exile in Qatar.
In the 1980s and 1990s, Haniyeh served several sentences in Israeli prisons.
After Hamas's win in the 2006 legislative election, he became the Prime Minister of the Palestinian Authority government.
However, it was short-lived as the next year he was dismissed from his position by President Mahmoud Abbas in 2007.
Ten years later, in 2017, he was elected the head of Hamas's political wing.
The same year, Haniyeh was named a "specially designated global terrorist" by the United States. Appointment and Resignation

7. Inderjit Camotra appoints as MD & CEO of Unity Small Finance Bank

The Reserve Bank of India (RBI) has appointed Inderjit Camotra’s reappointment as MD & CEO of Unity Small Finance Bank Limited (Unity Bank) for two years.
Camotra brings over 28 years of experience in leadership roles at major banks including Standard Chartered, ANZ, and Citibank.
During his tenure, Unity Bank has expanded significantly, accumulating a deposit base exceeding Rs 8,000 crore, a loan book surpassing Rs 8,500 crore, and establishing around 400 banking outlets across 21 states and union territories in India.
Unity Bank is a Scheduled Commercial Bank promoted by Centrum Financial Services Limited (a subsidiary of BSE and NSE-listed Centrum Capital Limited), with Resilient Innovations Private Limited as a co-investor.

Recent Appointment in Banking & Insurance Sector

MD of National Housing Bank – Sanjay Shukla
CMD of Small Industries Development Bank of India (SIDBI) – Manoj Mittal (replace S Ramann)
MD & CEO of Federal Bank – KVS Manian (replace MD Shyam Srinivasan) effect from 23 Sep 24
Whole-time Director (ED) of South Indian Bank – Dolphy Jose
MD & CEO of Paytm Payments Bank – Arun Kumar Bansal

8.Grinson George takes over as new CMFRI Director

Grinson George has been appointed as the Director of the ICAR-Central Marine Fisheries Research Institute (CMFRI).

He was Head of the Marine Biodiversity and Environment Management Division at CMFRI.

A seasoned fishery researcher with over two decades of experience, he has held the position of Senior Programme Specialist at the SAARC in Dhaka.

Recent Appointment

First woman DG of Medical Services (Army) – Lt Gen Sadhna Saxena Nair
2 New Members in CBDT – Ramesh Narain Parbat and Prabodh Seth
Chairman of UPSC – Preeti Sudan (replace Manoj Soni)
CMD of BECIL – D.K. Murali
Festival director for International Film Festival of India –Shekhar Kapur

9.BSF Director General, Deputy removed ‘with immediate effect

The Centre removed BSF Director General (DG) Nitin Agrawal and his deputy Special DG (West) Y B Khurania, sending them back to their respective state cadres with immediate effect.
Agrawal is a 1989-batch Kerala cadre officer, while Khurania belongs to the 1990-batch of the Odisha cadre.
Agrawal had taken charge as the Border Security Force chief in June last year. Khurania, as the special DG (West), was heading the formation of the force along the Pakistan border.
The about 2.65-lakh personnel strong BSF guards Indian borders with Pakistan on the west and Bangladesh on the east.

About Border Security Force (BSF)

Founded- 1 December 1965
Founder- Khusro Faramurz Rustamji
Constituting instrument – Border Security Force Act 1968
Headquarters – New Delhi

Sports News

10.Lakshya Sen claims historic win to become first Indian male shuttler to enter Olympic semis

Lakshya Sen made history by becoming the first male Indian shuttler to qualify for the semi-finals of an Olympics.
He achieved this milestone by defeating Chinese Taipei’s Chou Tien-chen with a score of 19-21, 21-15, 21-12 in the quarter-finals of the 2024 Paris Olympics.
Previously, the best performances by Indian male shuttlers in the Olympic men’s singles badminton tournament were by Parupalli Kashyap (London 2012) and Kidambi Srikanth (Rio 2016), both of whom reached the quarter-finals.
Sen will compete in the semi-final against either Denmark’s Viktor Axelsen or Loh Kean Yew of Singapore.

Important day

11. 3 August – Indian Organ Donation Day

Indian Organ Donation Day is observed every year on 3 August. This year observed 14th Indian Organ Donation Day.
The Indian Organ Donation Day is observed to increase awareness about organ donation amongst the people. It also commemorates the contributions made to society by deceased donors and their families.
The Indian Organ Donation Day has been observed since 2010 in the country. Earlier, the Indian Organ Donation Day used to be observed every year on 27 November.
In 2022, the National Organ and Tissue Transplant Organization decided to observe the Indian Organ Donation Day on 3 August every year.

12. 4 August 2024 – National Friendship Day

Friendship Day 2024 is celebrated every year in India on the first Sunday of August. This year celebrated on 4 August.
The primary aim of Friendship Day is to promote dialogue and build bridges between communities, cultures, and nations. It serves as a reminder of the power of friendship in overcoming differences and fostering peace.
The International Day of Friendship was proclaimed in 2011 by the UN General Assembly with the idea that friendship between peoples, countries, cultures, and individuals can inspire peace efforts and build bridges between communities.

Obituary News

13. Former Director of CBC K K Pant passes away

Former Director of Central Bureau of Communication, K K Pant passed away.
He also served as Editor in Akashwani News.
The 64-year-old former senior officer of the Indian Information Service had served in different wings of the Ministry of Information and Broadcasting in various capacities.

Miscellaneous News

14. After 61 years, four-ringed butterfly resurfaces in India

A four-ringed butterfly belonging to a family with most members in China has resurfaced in India after 61 years, a new study said.
A policeman is one of the four authors of the paper, published by the Bombay Natural History Society (BNHS), describing the great four-ring (Ypthima cantliei), a species of Satyrinae butterfly. The butterfly was recorded in 2018 from the Namdapha National Park by Roshan Upadhaya, a member of the Arunachal Pradesh Pol- ice, Monsoon Jyoti Gogoi of the BNHS, and Renu Gogoi and Rezina Ahmed of the Guwahati-based Cotton University's Department of Zoology.
Namdapha, straddling 1,985 sq. km. of Changlang district in Arunachal Pradesh, is India's easternmost tiger reserve bordering Myanmar. The park has an elevation ranging from 298.7 metres above the mean sea level to 4,498.8 meters.
"The great four-ring was photographed during a survey to document the butterfly diversity in the Miao range of the Namda pha National Park during 2018-19. It was identified based on general morpho- logical patterns and habitat," Mr. Upadhaya told The Hindu on Saturday. "Little is known about the current distribution or population of this species, which was last reported in 1957 from (eastern) Assam's Margherita, 61 years before our documentation," he said.
Ypthima is considered a rich genus of the family Nymphalidae which has some 6,000 species of butterflies. Of the 35 Ypthima species recorded in India, 23 have been reported from the northeast.
The highest Ypthima diversity is in China, particularly in Yunnan and Sichuan. The diversity is also vast in Nepal, Bhutan, and Myanmar. The species has dull brown-gray wings with three yellow-ringed single eye spots (ocelli) on its hind wing and a large bipupilled apical ocellus obscurely ringed with yellow on the forewing above.

Current Affairs | National | International | SSC | UPSC 4th August 2024