National News

1.. Venkaiah Naidu Laid Foundation of Country’s First ‘Green-Field’ Smart City

(i) Vice President M Venkaiah Naidu laid the foundation stone for Ranchi Smart City coming up on the Heavy Engineering Corporation (HEC) land. According to the Urban Development Minister CP Singh, this would be the country’s first ‘green-field’ smart city.
(ii) The smart city is coming up on 656 acres of HEC land which would be fully wi-fi, carbon free, garbage free locality with modernized housing, traffic management system and education hub.

Important Takeaways from Above News-

(i) Shri Raghubar Das is the CM of Jharkhand.
(ii) Smt Droupadi Murmu is the Present Governor of Jharkhand.

2.. IndusInd Bank and Bharat Financial Inclusion Sign Exclusivity Agreement for Merger

(i) Private sector lender IndusInd Bank and India's second largest Microfinance company Bharat Financial Inclusion have signed a confidentiality agreement for the proposed merger between them.
(ii) The Hinduja Group controlled bank has informed the exchanges about an ‘exclusivity agreement’ with the micro lender to explore merger or expansion plans. The deal between the two companies may formalise after due diligence, definitive documentation and their shareholders, regulatory, NCLT and other third-party approvals, as applicable.

Important Takeaways from Above News-

(i) R. Seshasayee is the present Chairman of IndusInd Bank.
(ii) It Headquarters in Mumbai.

3.. PNB, BSNL Join Hands for Mobile Wallet Speedpay Rollout

(i) Punjab National Bank and state-run firm BSNL teamed up to roll out open mobile wallet Speedpay across 10 states in the country. PNB Speedway wallet will operate like any other mobile wallet for paying bills, recharging phone besides its users will be able to deposit and withdraw money from authorized retail outlets.
(ii) Under the agreement, BSNL will expand Speedpay services in Punjab, Chandigarh(UT), Haryana, Jammu and Kashmir, Himachal Pradesh, Uttar Pradesh, Bihar, West Bengal, Jharkhand, and Uttarakhand.

Important Takeaways from Above News-

(i) Sunil Mehta is the MD & CEO of Punjab National Bank.
(ii) PNB is headquartered in New Delhi.
(iii) Chairman & Managing Director of BSNL is Shri Anupam Shrivastava.

4.. Defence Minister Flags off Women’s Circumnavigation Expedition

(i) Defence Minister Nirmala Sitharaman flagged off the Navika Sagar Parikrama by an all-women crew of Indian Navy aboard Indian Naval Sailing Vessel (INSV) Tarini from INS Mandovi jetty in Goa.
(ii) Navika Sagar Parikrama is the first attempt by an Indian all-women crew to circumnavigate the globe. The expedition will cover Australia, New Zealand, Falklands and South Africa. It is expected to be completed in around 160 days. INSV Tarini is skippered by Lieutenant Commander Vartika Joshi.

Important Takeaways from Above News-

(i) Admiral Sunil Lanba is the present CNS of Indian Navy.

5.. SEBI Advisory Committee To Discuss Trading Hours Extension

(i) An advisory committee of the Securities and Exchange Board of India is likely to discuss a proposal for extending stock market trading hours.
(ii) The stock market in India currently opens at 9 a.m. and closes at 3.30 p.m., but there is a view, including among stock exchanges, that the trade hours could be extended till up to 7.30 p.m. to better align domestic trading with global markets. The 19-member committee is led by Jayanth R Varma, professor, Indian Institute of Management, Ahmedabad.

Important Takeaways from Above News-

(i) Ajay Tyagi is the Present Chairman of SEBI.

6.. SIM Cards not Linked to Aadhaar to be Deactivated after February 2018

(i) The government is moving ahead with linking Aadhaar with mobile SIM cards and all unlinked phones will be deactivated after February 2018.
(ii) Aadhaar mobile linkage is being done as per the orders of Supreme Court passed in February 2017 in Lokniti foundation case and all SIM cards have to be verified with Aadhaar within a year from the date of judgement, with all unlinked phones to be deactivated after February next year.

International

1.. Prince Charles Becomes Longest-Serving Prince of Wales

(i) Prince Charles, the heir to Britain’s throne, became the longest-serving Prince of Wales in history. The 68-year-old broke the record of Queen Victoria’s oldest son Albert, who went on to become King Edward VII after holding the title of Prince of Wales for more than 59 years before becoming monarch.
(ii) Prince Charles is the 21st Prince of Wales in the current line. Prince Charles was created Prince of Wales when he was nine years old on July 26, 1958. He has now held the title for more than 59 years.

Important Takeaways from Above News-

(i) The Prince of Wales is historically the title bestowed.
(ii) In 1301 Edward of Caernarfon, the future Edward II was invested as Prince of Wales - this was the first time the eldest son of the King of England had been bestowed the title.

2.. Second Indian Workers’ Resource Centre Inaugurated in UAE

(i) Indian Ambassador in UAE Navdeep Singh Suri inaugurated the second Indian Workers’ Resource Centre (IWRC) in UAE to provide support and counseling to Indians in distress.
(ii) IWRC provides counseling and support to the overseas Indian Community on legal, personal and financial matters, free of cost. IWRC will provide support and guidance to any member of the Indian community in any such distress situation.

Important Takeaways from Above News-

(i) The first IWRC was opened in Dubai in 2010.
(ii) Khalifa bin Zayed bin Sultan Al Nahyan is the President of the United Arab Emirates (UAE).

3.. Shaheen VI: China-Pakistan Air Forces Joint Exercise

(i) The air forces of China and Pakistan began a joint training exercise named "Shaheen VI" and deployed their latest fighter jets and AWACS aircraft. China has dispatched J-11 fighters, JH-7 fighter-bombers, KJ-200 AWACS aircraft and ground forces including surface-to-air missile and radar troops.
(ii) The exercise will run in China. AWACS is Airborne Warning And Control System, a mobile, long-range radar surveillance and control centre for air defence.

Important Takeaways from above News-

(i) The "Shaheen" joint training between the two militaries which maintain close relations was launched in March 2011.

Defence

1.. DRDO Carries Out Successful Tests of Nag Missile

(i) India's indigenously developed third generation anti-tank guided missile (ATGM) Nag has been successfully flight tested by Defence Research and Development Organisation (DRDO) in deserts of Rajasthan, marking the completion of development trials.
(ii) According to the defence ministry, Nag has been successfully flight tested twice by the DRDO against two different targets in Rajasthan. The missile can hit a target up to seven km.

Important Takeaways from Above News-

(i) S Christopher is the chairman of DRDO.
(ii) DRDO Headquarters in New Delhi.

Sports

1.. India Finishes 5th at Moscow Shotgun World Championships

(i) India has finished fifth in the medals tally with one gold and two silver medals at the Moscow Shotgun World Championships. Only 16 of the 76 participating nations got amongst the medals and Italy topped the tally with nine gold medals for a total of 17 medals in all.
(ii) Both their Olympic skeet champions Gabrielle Rossetti and Diana Bacosi were also crowned world champions in the process. The USA stood second with five gold medals for a total of 12. Hosts Russia were third in the overall tally with two golds for a total of eight.

Important Takeaways from Above News-

(i) The Capital of Russia is Moscow.

2.. US Open Tennis Tournament 2017: Complete List of Winners

The 2017 US Open was the fourth and final Grand Slam event of the year. It was held on outdoor hard courts at the USTA Billie Jean King National Tennis Center in New York City, USA. The tournament is an event run by the International Tennis Federation (ITF).

Rafael Nadal was the winner of Men's Singles. With this win, Nadal captured his third US Open title and his 16th Grand Slam title overall. Sloane Stephens was the winner of Women's Singles. The 83rd-ranked Stephens is only the second unseeded woman to win the tournament in the Open era.

Here is the complete list of winners/runner-ups of the Tournament:-

Here is the name of players and the country from which they belong to:-

Important Takeaways from Above News-

(i) The US Open will celebrate 50 years of Open tennis in 2018.
(ii) The Tournament began in 1968.
(iii) Stan Wawrinka and Angelique Kerber were the previous year's men's and women's singles champions (2016).

3.. India Win 2nd SABA U-16 Championship

(i) India has won 2nd South Asian Basketball, SABA, Under - 16 Championship. India defeated Bhutan by 131-50 in its last league match at Kathmandu in Nepal. India remained unbeaten in its all four matches and accumulated 8 points.
(ii) Bangladesh finished second and host Nepal third. The championship was played in a round robin league format. India has now qualified for 2017 International Basketball Federation, FIBA.

4.. US Open: Sloane Stephens wins Women's Singles Title

(i) Unseeded American Sloane Stephens lifted the US Open women's singles title. Sloane ranked 83rd completed a spectacular return from injury to beat 15th seed Keys 6-3, 6-0 in the finals.
(ii) The 24-year-old was ranked as low as 957th six weeks ago went on to become only the fifth unseeded woman to win a major title in the Open era. Sloane stunned Venus Williams in the semifinal.