CURRENT AFFAIRS AT A GLANCE - 31ST JULY

·        SBI cut interest rate on savings deposit up to 1 crore rupees by 50 basis points t0 3.5% per annum.

·        India is poised to reject Shanghai Fosun Pharmaceutical Group’s proposed $1.3 Billion takeover of drugmaker Gland Pharma.

·        The biggest merger in the life insurance industry, between HDFC Standard Life and Max Life is expired on 31^st July and it would not be renewed.

·        The Centre’s fiscal deficit for the April-June quarter was Rs. 4.42 lakh crore or 81.8% of the full year target of Rs. 5.46 lakh crore. This compares with 61.1 percent for the year ago period.

·        Snapdeal is going to change from a pure-play marketplace to a Taobao – a consumer –to-consumer e-commerce marketplace. Taobao founded by the Alibaba in 2003. It does not charge transaction fees and free for merchants. It allows merchants the option to buy advertising and earns revenues from the advertisements posted by them. (Snapdeal Cofounders- Kunal Bahl and Rohit Bahl)

·        Birla Corporation is aimig to increase its cement production capacity from the cureent 15.5 million tonnes per annum to nearly 20 mtpa and is planning a four mtpa projects in Mukutban, Yavatmal district, in Maharashtra. (investment-2400 cr rs.) (Chairman – Harsh V Lodha)

·        According to Nomura India’s GDP growth is likely to be higher at 6.6% in the June quarter.

·        Reserve Bank of India (RBI) imposed 3cr Rs. Penalty on Union Bank of India for non-compliance with the Know Your Customer (KYC) norms in two cases.

·        CBDT signs 9 unilateral advance pricing agreements (APA’s) in July with Indian Taxpayers.

·        Delhi government on 31^st July decided to freeze funding of 28 Delhi University colleges fully or partially funded by it.

·        IT department on 31^st July extended the deadline for e-filling of returns till 5^th August and aloso eased the timeframe for linking PAN with Aadhaar by 30^th August.

·        Swiss Bank paid $ 1 billion in negative interest rate charge in the first six months of 2017.

·        Discovery Communication agreed to but Scripps Network Interactive for $ 11.9 billion in a bet.

·        Andhra Pradesh CM Chandrababu Naidu has been elected for the “Transformative CM Award 2107” [ which is given by the US-India Business Council (USBIC)], in recognition for his role in advancing the India-US partnerships at state level.

·        Delhi Metro Railway Corporation (DMRC) is recently declared as the World’s First Green Metro.

·        World’s longest (1621 feet and rising as 279 feet) pedestrian suspension bridge “Charles Kuonen Suspension Bridge” opens in Switzerland.

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