1) 49th Conference Of Governors Concludes In New Delhi
•The Vice President M Venkaiah Naidu, Prime Minister Narendra Modi and the Minister for Home Affairs also addressed the concluding session of the Conference.
2) Madhya Pradesh Announces Outstanding Power Bill Waiver Scheme
•The Madhya Pradesh government has announced an outstanding power bill waiver scheme for laborers and poor families. The state cabinet headed by Chief Minister Shivraj Singh Chouhan approved the Bijli Bill Mafi Yojana 2018 (Power Bill Waiver Scheme) which is expected to benefit about 77 lakh people of the state.
•Laborers falling under the unorganized sector in Madhya Pradesh will get power supply at a subsidized rate. The state cabinet also approved Mukhyamantri Jan Kalyan (Sambal) Yojana 2018 (a scheme to provide subsidized power) in the meeting.
3) Global Economy Is Healthy But Growth Will Slow: World Bank
•The steadily expanding global economy should remain resilient, at least for a couple of years, the World Bank has stated. The anti-poverty agency predicts global growth will decelerate slightly from a solid 3.1 percent this year to 3 percent next year and 2.9 percent in 2020.
•The World Bank predicts that US growth will register 2.7 percent in 2018, aided by tax cuts, before slowing to 2.5 percent next year and 2 percent in 2020. China's growth is projected at 6.5 percent this year, 6.3 percent in 2019 and 6.2 percent in 2020.
4) MK Jain Appointed RBI Deputy Governor
•The Centre has appointed MK Jain, Managing Director, and CEO of IDBI Bank, as the RBI’s Deputy Governor.Jain will fill a position that had been lying vacant since August 2017 after the retirement of SS Mundra.
•With the appointment of Jain, the Centre has stuck to the tradition of having a commercial banker occupy this post of RBI Deputy Governor (reserved for bankers). The central bank now has four serving RBI Deputy Governors. Jain has been appointed for a term of three years.
5) Repo Rate Increased By 25 Bps In Second Bi-Monthly Monetary Policy Statement (2018-19)
•Monetary Policy Committee (MPC) of Reserve Bank of India has increased the policy Repo Rate under the liquidity adjustment facility (LAF) by 25 basis points to 6.25 percent in the Second Bi-monthly Monetary Policy Statement (2018-19). Consequently, the reverse repo rate under the LAF stands adjusted to 6.0 percent, and the marginal standing facility (MSF) rate and the Bank Rate to 6.50 percent.
•MPC revised CPI inflation for 2018-19 to 4.8-4.9% in the first half and 4.7% in the second half. The MPC stated that the GDP growth rate for 2018-19 is retained at 7.4 percent.
6) Virat Kohli Only Indian In World’s Highest Paid Athletes List
•India cricket captain Virat Kohli is among the world’s highest-paid athletes, according to a Forbes’ compilation topped by American boxing champion Floyd Mayweather. Kohli, the only sportsperson from India to be featured in the list, is ranked 83rd with earnings of USD 24 million.
•Kohli is not just cricket-crazy India’s biggest name but is also one of the most popular athletes in the world. The ‘World’s Highest-Paid Athletes 2018’ list is topped by 41-year-old Mayweather, with USD 285 million earnings.
