Top 5 Current Affairs: 4 August 2017

Banking Regulation (Amendment) Bill passed in Lok Sabha

The Lok Sabha on 3 August 2017 passed the Banking Regulation (Amendment) Bill, 2017 by voice vote. The Banking Regulation Bill 2017 seeks to amend the Banking Regulation Act, 1949 and replace the Banking Regulation (Amendment) Ordinance, 2017, which was promulgated on 4 May 2017.

The bill seeks to empower the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) to issue directions to the banking companies to resolve specific stressed assets by initiating the recently enacted Insolvency and Bankruptcy Code, 2016 (IBC).

Mohammad Mustafa appointed as CMD of SIDBI

Senior bureaucrat Mohammad Mustafa was appointed as Chairman and Managing Director (CMD) of the Small Industries Development Bank of India (SIDBI). His appointment was approved by the Appointments Committee of the Cabinet (ACC) for a period of three years.  Prior to this appointment, Mustafa, a 1995 batch Indian Administrative Service (IAS) officer of Uttar Pradesh cadre, was working as a Joint Secretary in Department of Financial Services.

Lok Sabha passes NABARD (Amendment) Bill, 2017

The Lok Sabha has passed the National Bank for Agriculture and Rural Development (Amendment) Bill, 2017 by voice vote. The Bill enables exit of the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) from the National Bank for Agriculture and Rural Development (NABARD) and increases authorised capital of the development institution six times to Rs 30000 crore.

The Bill also seeks to amend certain clauses in the light of reference of the Micro, Small and Medium Enterprises (MSMEs) Development Act, 2006 in the proposed legislation.

ISRO, NASA working towards completion of NISAR mission by 2021

ISRO and NASA are working towards the realisation of NASA-ISRO Synthetic Aperture Radar (NISAR) mission by 2021. In the mission, NASA is responsible for the development of L-band SAR and ISRO is responsible for the development of S-band SAR.

It will be integrated with ISRO’s spacecraft and launched onboard India’s GSLV. This was stated by the Union Minister of State for Atomic Energy and Space, Dr Jitendra Singh in a written reply to a question in Rajya Sabha yesterday.

Book Tatkal Train Tickets now and Pay Later: Indian Railways

Indian Railways has announced that people can now pay later for tickets booked under the tatkal quota on the Indian Railway Catering and Tourism Corp (IRCTC) website. Till now, this service was available only for general reservations. The book now and pay later mode enables customers to book tatkal e-ticket and pay the fare within a period of 15 days. While booking an e-ticket, the customer will be provided with an ‘ePaylater’ scheme and a service charge of 3.5 per cent will be levied on the transaction amount along with other taxes.