IMF cuts India growth forecast for 2018 to 7.3%

  • The International Monetary Fund (IMF) projected a growth rate of 7.3% in 2018 and 7.5% in 2019 for India as against 6.7% in 2017.
  • This makes India the fastest growing country among major economies.
  • However, the latest growth rate projection for India is slightly less than the IMF’s projections in April, which was 7.4% for 2018 and 7.8% for 2019.
  • The reason for the revised lower projections are due to the effects of higher oil prices as well as faster than-anticipated monetary policy tightening due to higher expected inflation.
  • Despite this, India continues to outperform China.

LIC board approves acquisition of up to 51% stake in IDBI Bank

  • The board of Life Insurance Corporation (LIC) has given its approval to the acquisition of up to 51% stake in debt-ridden IDBI Bank.
  • State-owned LIC will next approach market regulator SEBI for approval and discussions on how to go about it.
  • Insurance regulator IRDAI has already given its approval to the LIC for the IDBI Bank stake purchase.
  • The LIC stake is expected to help IDBI Bank get capital support of 10,000 to 13,000 crore rupees.

WPI soars to 4.5-year high of 5.77% in June 2018

  • India’s wholesale inflation grew 5.77 percent in June, marking a four-and-half year high.
  • The growth was driven by some food items and fuel prices.
  • Wholesale inflation grew 5.3% in June from 3.16% in May. 
  • Prices of vegetables grew 8.12% in June as compared with a growth of 2.51% in May.
  • Fuel and power inflation grew at 16.18% in June from 11.22% in May. 

At 50 paise/litre, Bihar to get cheapest clean drinking water in the world

  • Bihar will soon have the cheapest drinking water in the world, after the launch of an innovative and cost-effective water project, called Sulabh Jal.
  • The ‘Sulabh Jal’ project converts contaminated pond and river water into safe drinking water.
  • Through this project, pure and clean drinking water will cost just 50paise/litre.
  • The project, a first of its kind in the world, was launched in Bihar’s Darbhanga district by Sulabh International, an organisation that introduced the concept of ‘Sulabh Sauchalya’ in the country.
  • The estimated cost of the project is Rs.20 lakh.

India, Pakistan to be part of anti-terror SCO drill in Russia

  • The militaries of India and Pakistan will be part of a huge anti-terror drill, named Peace Mission, to be held in Russia next month. This will be the first time that India and Pakistan take part together in a military drill.
  • Peace Mission is being organised by the Shanghai Cooperation Organisation (SCO) to help member countries deal with terrorism and extremism.
  • Around 200 Army and Air Force personnel from India will be participating in the exercise scheduled from August 20-29 at Chelyabinsk city in west-central Russia
  • The exercise will be joined by all SCO member countries including Russia, China, Kyrgyz Republic, Kazakhstan, Tajikistan and Uzbekistan.

IIT-Madras gets remotely operable LEAP microscope

  • A remotely operable (the world’s first, it is claimed) LEAP microscope is now running at the Indian Institute of Technology Madras.
  • LEAP stands for Local Electrode Atom Probe.
  • The LEAP microscope cost almost Rs.40 crore.
  • It was developed in a joint effort involving eight top research institutions in the country.
  • The high-performance microscope provides a precise atom-by-atom view of a material. This enables a three-dimensional (3D) atomic scale reconstruction of the material being studied.

Haryana Governor gets additional charge of Himachal

  • Haryana Governor Kaptan Singh Solanki has been given additional charge of Himachal Pradesh by President Ram Nath Kovind.
  • Solanki will discharge “the functions of the Governor of Himachal Pradesh, in addition to his own duties” during the absence of Himachal Governor Acharya Devvrat, while Devvrat is on leave.

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