1. India’s first lady Suvra Mukherjee passes away

(i) President Pranab Mukherjee’s wife Suvra Mukherjee passed away at New Delhi on August 18. She had been ill for the past few days.

(ii) Born on September 17, 1940 in Jessore (now in Bangladesh), Suvra Mukherjee was a talented painter and well-accomplished in Rabindra Sangeet. She has authored two books, Chokher Aloey, an account of her close interaction with Indira Gandhi and Chena Achenai Chin, a travelogue recounting her visit to China.

2. UAE supports India’s bid for permanent seat in UN

(i) On August 17, UAE extended support to India’s bid for a permanent seat in the UNSC as both the countries called for expeditious reforms in the UN body.

(ii) PM Modi was at UAE for a two-day trip starting from August 16, with a view to boost India -UAE ties in terror, trade and key areas of security.

3. Govt. announces ‘Indradhanush’ to revamp PSBs

(i) The seven-pronged revival plan called ‘Indradhanush’ meant to revamp the functioning of public sector banks (PSBs) was launched by Finance Minister Arun Jaitley on August 14.The plan has 7 elements, namely – appointments, board of bureau, capitalisation, de-stressing, empowerment, framework of accountability and governance reforms.

(ii) The government stated that it would infuse Rs.20,088 crore into 13 PSU banks this year and the country’s largest public sector lender SBI getting a hefty Rs.5,531 crore.

4. Seventh Pay Commission seeks extension to submit final report

(i) The Seventh Pay Commission, which was supposed to submit its report and recommendations to the Finance Ministry on 31st August 2015, has sought a month’s extension and is expected to submit it by September-end.

(ii) Finance Ministry believes that both the salary and pension expenditure will rise by about 16% in 2016 -17 based on the commission’s recommendations. Further, the commission may keep the retirement age same i.e. 60 years as reducing it would burden and impact government’s medium-term fiscal targets.

(iii) The Seventh Pay Commission is set up every 10 years to review pay, allowances and other benefits for Central government employees.

5. Kishor P Kharat made MD & CEO of IDBI Bank

(i) Kishor P Kharat has been appointed as the MD & CEO of the IDBI Bank with effect from August 14th, 2015. Earlier, he was the executive director of Union Bank of India and prior to that he had served Bank of Baroda for three decades.

(ii) During the April-June quarter, IDBI Bank recorded a 27% rise in net profit to Rs 135 crore besides a huge increase in its non-interest income- trading profits and fees levied to customers. The gross non – performing assets (GNPAs) expanded 31% to Rs.14,112 crore from Rs.10, 763.4 crore a year ago.

(iii) The new MD & CEO is tasked with improving the growth rate and reducing NPAs.

6.Moody’s projects India’s GDP to be about 7% in 2015

(i) Moody’s Investors Service lowered its growth forecast for India, maintaining that less than normal rainfall will offset higher government expenditure.

(ii) Gross domestic product (GDP) will expand about 7% in 2015 compared with an earlier estimate of around 7.5%, the company projected. The company still sees 7.5% growth in 2016.

7. Saina Nehwal settles for a silver at World Badminton Championships

(i) Saina Nehwal lost the women’s singles final to Spanish top seed Carolina Marin to take home a silver medal.

(ii) Saina faced Marin, scoring 16-21 19-21 in the final match

8. Anirban Lahiri finishes fifth at PGA Championship

(i) In what is seen as his best performance thus far, Indian golfer Anirban Lahiri on August 17 rose up to world no. 38 in his rankings as he finished fifth at the PGA championship.

(ii) Lahiri is only the second Indian to make it to the Top-50 of the world and has won seven titles in Asia, of which two – Malaysian Open and Hero Indian Open – were co-sanctioned with European Tour.

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