1.Rest of India team bags Irani Cup

i) Rest of India team defeated Mumbai by four wickets to lift the Irani Cup.

ii) The team chased a target of 480 runs set by Mumbai on the fifth and final day of the match. This run-chase is the best in the history of Irani Cup and the third-highest in the history of first-class cricket.

iii) This is the 26th win of the Rest of India team in the Irani Cup tournament.

iv) The Irani Cup tournament commenced in 1959-60 to commemorate the completion of 25 years of Ranji trophy.

v) Irani Cup is named after late Z.R. Irani, who was associated with the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI).

vi) It is annually played between the winner of Ranji trophy in the respective year and the Rest of India team.

2.Centre to launch radio channel for traffic updates on NHs

i) The Union Road Transport and Highways Ministry is planning to launch a dedicated radio frequency to broadcast traffic updates on national highways.

ii) The Highway Advisory Services has been launched as a pilot project to provide traffic information to commuters on NH-8.

iii) All India Radio’s FM Gold will air updates in the Delhi stretch, whereas AIR in Alwar and Jaipur would cover the stretch in Rajasthan.

3. B S Chauhan appointed chairperson of 21st Law Commission

i) The Union government has finally appointed ex-Supreme Court judge Balbir Singh Chauhan as the chairperson of the 21st Law Commission. The position was lying vacant since its constitution in September 2015.

iii) During his two-year term, chairman of 20th Law Commission A P Shah worked on 19 important reports. The present commission has the task of amending the Indian Penal Code amid allegations of abuse and arbitrary use of the law.

(iv) The Union Ministry of Law & Justice has urged the commission to specifically study the usage of provisions under Section 124A (Sedition) of the IPC.

iv) The Law Commission of India is an executive body which works to effect legal reforms.

4. Centre approves amendment to Sikh Gurdwaras Act, 1925

i) The Union government has given the go-ahead for the amendment of the 91-year-old Sikh Gurdwaras Act, 1925, in order to remove the exemption granted to Sahajdhari Sikhs in 1944 to vote in elections to Sikh religious bodies.

ii) Previously, an amendment was carried out by a notification released by the Home Ministry in October 2003 in exercise of the powers conferred by the Parliament under section 72 of the Punjab Reorganisation Act, 1966.

iv) Panjab & Haryana High Court had quelled this notification, leaving it to the appropriate legislative authorities to amend the act.

5. Ahmed Abul Gheit is the new Secretary General of Arab League

i) Ahmed Abul Gheit, former Egyptian foreign minister and diplomat, has been appointed as the new Secretary General of the 22-member Arab League.

ii) He will replace Nabil El-Araby, who served as Egypt’s foreign minister under a transitional government formed after the 2011 uprising.

iii) The Arab League is a regional organisation of countries located in and around North Africa. Its main objective is to strengthen relations between member states on various matters.

iv) Currently, the Arab League has become the forum of Sunni Muslim countries led by Saudi Arabia to air grievances with regional Shi’ite power Iran.

6. Union Cabinet approves Hydrocarbon Exploration & Licensing Policy

i) To ensure transparency and attract global investment in the energy sector, the Union Cabinet has approved the new Hydrocarbon Exploration & Licensing Policy (HELP).

ii) HELP will require companies to acquire just one licence to manage all kinds of hydrocarbon reserves such as oil, gas, shale and coal bed methane.

iii) Earlier, there were many restrictions on choosing buyers or setting a selling price on gases. However, with the implementation of HELP such barriers will be lifted.

iv) This policy will use the revenue-sharing model to replace the previously followed practice of contractors sharing the profit with the government after recovering costs.

v) Further, it will enable companies to freely price gas, carve out blocks of their choice for exploration, share revenue, and not profits with the government. Companies will not need a Comptroller and Auditor General (CAG) audit of their oil and gas fields.

7. Former Indian footballer Amar Bahadur passes away

i) Well-known former Indian Footballer Amar Bahadur Gurung has passed away at the age of 73 in Gurgaon.

ii) Affectionately known as Amar Dai in the football fraternity, he earned a total of 22 caps in his lifetime and won a bronze medal in the 1970s Asian Games in Bangkok.

iii) He was a part of Gorkha Brigade team which won the Durand Cup in 1966. He won the Rovers Cup for Mafatlal SC in 1968.

v) The Maharashtra government conferred on him the Shiv Chhatrapati Shivaji Award in 1973.

8. Researchers identify bacterium capable of decomposing plastic

i) Japanese researchers have recently identified a species of bacterium capable of degrading plastic i.e. polyethylene terephthalate (PET).

ii) The bacterium – Ideonella sakaiensis 201-F6 -could almost completely degrade a thin film of PET in a brief period of six weeks at 30°C.

iii) The bacterium uses two specific enzymes to completely decompose PET. It produces an intermediate substance through hydrolysis. The second enzyme then works with water and acts on this intermediate substance to break it down to the two monomers – ethylene glycol and terephthalic acid which are used for making PET through polymerisation.

9. South Asia Regional Training and Technical Assistance Center to be set up in India

i) The Union government has approved the signing of an MoU with the International Monetary Fund (IMF) to set up South Asia Regional Training and Technical Assistance Center (SARTTAC) in India.

ii) SARTTAC will be a joint venture among IMF & six other South Asian countries such as Bangladesh, Bhutan, India, Maldives, Nepal and Sri Lanka, and development partners.

iii) The MoU provides for addressing capacity-building needs of state-level government officials, in macro, fiscal, monetary policies by the IMF.

iv) SARTTAC will bring capacity development in fiscal and financial policies that will result in economic development and inclusive growth in the country.

10. Rajya Sabha passes Real Estate Bill

i) Much to the relief of new home buyers, Rajya Sabha has passed the Real Estate Bill, which will soon be tabled in Lok Sabha for consideration.

ii) The bill seeks to regulate the property sector and protect consumer rights by bringing about transparency.

iii) As per the bill, all real estate projects will have to be registered with regulatory authorities. Further, developers will have to disclose project information, including details of the promoter, project layout plan, land status, etc.

iv) The bill strictly prohibits discrimination on the basis of religion, region, caste, creed or sex and gender while finalising property transactions.

v) It covers building projects that are more than 500 sq m or have over eight apartments.

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