1) India permitted to construct Kishanganga, Ratle projects under Indus Water Treaty: World Bank
•World Bank allowed India to construct hydroelectric power facilities on tributaries of the Jhelum and Chenab rivers with certain restrictions under the 1960 Indus Waters Treaty (IWT).
•Pakistan opposes the construction of the Kishanganga (330 megawatts) and Ratle (850 megawatts) hydroelectric power plants being built by India in Jammu and Kashmir.
2) Cabinet approves MoU between India and BRICS countries to set up BRICS Agriculture Research Platform
•The Union Cabinet chaired by the Prime Minister Shri Narendra Modi has given its ex-post facto approval for a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) signed among India and various BRICS countries for establishment of the BRICS Agriculture Research Platform (BRICS-ARP).
•During the 7th BRICS Summit held in July 2015 at Ufa in Russia, PM Modi proposed to establish BRICS Agriculture Research Centre which will be a gift to the entire world. The Centre will promote sustainable agricultural development and poverty alleviation through strategic cooperation in agriculture to provide food security in the BRICS member countries.
3) 7th Meeting of BRICS Trade Ministers held in Shanghai, China
•The 7th Meeting of BRICS Trade Ministers was held in Shanghai, China. A six-member delegation led by Commerce and Industry Minister Smt. Nirmala Sitharaman.
•Mr. Zhong Shan, Minister of Commerce from China, presided over the meetings. Sitharaman discussed with her Chinese counterpart, Zhong Shan, the trade deficit in India-China bilateral trade which stands at $51 billion for 2016-17 from the $71.48 billion bilateral trade between the two countries.
4) Lok Sabha passes Bill to replace NPA Ordinance
•The Lok Sabha gave its nod for a Bill to replace the NPA Ordinance promulgated in May 2017. The Banking Regulation (Amendment) Bill 2017 sought to amend the Banking Regulation Act, 1949, for this purpose.
•The NPA Ordinance had conferred powers on the Centre for authorising the Reserve Bank of India to issue directions to banks to initiate the insolvency resolution process in respect of a default, under the Insolvency and Bankruptcy Code 2016.
5) Justice B.N Srikrishna to head committee to study issues related to data protection
•The Ministry of Electronics and Information Technology (MeitY) has appointed an expert panel committee that would study various issues relating to data protection in the country and will suggest a draft data protection Bill. It is a 10 member panel and it is headed by former Supreme court Judge Justice B N Srikrishna.
•The committee will design a broader framework which will cover all other kinds of data and ensure that the deliberations on the issue start as soon as possible.
6) Sanjaya Baru New Secretary General of FICCI
•Sanjaya Baru has appointed as the Secretary General of the Federation of Indian Chambers of Commerce and Industry (FICCI).
•Sanjay will assume the charge from 1st September 2017. He succeeds A Didar Singh, who served as Secretary General for 5 years.
