Current Affairs Aug 31, 2015

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01. Law Commission recommends abolition of death penalty, except in terror cases: The Law Commission has recommended “swift” abolition of death penalty except in terror-related cases, noting it does not serve the penological goal of deterrence any more than life imprisonment.

02. Economic growth slows to 7% in April-June quarter : The GDP growth slowed to 7 per cent in the April-June quarter, from 7.5 per cent in the previous quarter, amid deceleration in farm, services and manufacturing sectors.. The Gross Value Added (GVA), a new concept introduced by CSO to measure the economic activity, also slipped during the first quarter to 7.1 per cent, from 7.4 per cent a year ago.

03. Govt. to infuse Rs 947 crore in Canara Bank: Leading PSB Canara Bank said the government will infuse an equity capital of Rs 947 crore in the bank. The board of the bank at a recently held meeting approved the proposal of issuing equity shares on preferential basis to the government in lieu of the capital infusion.

04. R P Watal designated as new Finance Secretary: The Government has approved the designation of R.P. Watal, the senior most Secretary in the Finance Ministry, as Finance Secretary. He is a 1978-batch Andhra cadre IAS officer currently holding the post of the Expenditure Secretary in the Finance Ministry.

05. RBI names SBI, ICICI Bank as systemically important banks : RBI has designated State Bank of India and ICICI Bank as Domestic Systemically Important Banks (D-SIBs). Following this designation, additional Common Equity Tier 1 (CET1) requirements become applicable for SBI, India’s largest bank, and ICICI Bank, India’s largest private sector bank, from April 1, 2016 in a phased manner and would become fully effective from April 1, 2019.

06. India pitches for rating upgrade by S&P on strong macroeconomic data : India has pitched for rating upgrade by Standard and Poor’s citing strong macroeconomic indicators, low inflation and improvement in fiscal as well as current account deficits. In his presentation to the visiting S&P officials, Chief Economic Advisor (CEA) Arvind Subramanian said that the country has strong medium-term growth potential on the back of persistent economic reforms which are being pursued by the government. S&P has BBB— rating on India with stable outlook.

07. Sebi slaps Rs 2.5 cr fine on 19 entities for fraud : Market regulator SEBI has slapped a total penalty of Rs 2.5 crore on 19 entities for indulging in fraudulent trading in shares of SJ Corporation. These entities include the then promoters of SJ Corporation , who would be “jointly and severally liable to pay the said monetary penalty.”

08. Reliance Group to expand business cooperation with Qatar: Anil Ambani-led Reliance Group has expressed a keen interest in playing a larger role in the growing economic ties between India and Qatar by expanding business cooperation with the Gulf country.

09. India vs SA series to be called ‘Gandhi-Mandela’ series: The BCCI and Cricket South Africa (CSA) have announced that they will title all future bilateral series between the two countries as ‘The Mahatma Gandhi-Nelson Mandela Series’

10. Anil wins gold : Wrestler Anil gave India its second medal in the Cadet World Championships on the fifth day by winning the gold medal in the 50kg freestyle category .