General

1. Triple Talaq Bill,Amendment

The Union Cabinet approved three amendments to the Bill, which now has provisions that allow an accused to seek bail before trial, lodging of an FIR only at the insistence of the wife or her blood relations or those who become her relatives by virtue of marriage, and making the offence compoundable where both parties have the liberty of withdrawing the case.

2. BCCI Panel draft constitution: Lodha Panel,SC

• The Supreme Court approved the Board of Control for Cricket in India's (BCCI) draft constitution while doing away with the ‘One-State-One-Vote’ policy recommended by the Justice Lodha-led Panel.
• Further, the Supreme Court’s three-judge bench has asked state associations to adopt the modified constitution within 30 days of the order. The failure in doing so will invite action, the court has warned.
• The court accepted BCCI's draft constitution with certain changes in the cooling-off period. As per the amendments, the cooling-off period will be effective after two consecutive terms.
• Additionally, the apex court has granted full membership to Mumbai Cricket Association (MCA), Vidarbha, Saurashtra, Vadodara and Railways.
• The bench had observed that there were associations more than a century old that had been actively contributing to the development of the sport in India. It added that a person holding a post in the BCCI or in an association need not go through the 'cooling-off period' if applying for a different post in the organisation.
• In a landmark decision on 18 July, 2016, the Supreme Court passed most of the reforms proposed by the Justice Rajendra Mal Lodha-led Committee in an effort to clean up cricket administration in India that had been maligned by the spot-fixing scandal in the 2013 Indian Premier League (IPL).

3. SEBI panel favours powers for SEBI to intercept phone calls

• A committee set up by the Securities and Exchange Board of India (SEBI) has recommended giving the capital market watchdog direct powers to intercept phone calls for better investigation while strengthening the regulations to act against perpetrators of financial statements fraud.
• Currently, the regulator has powers to seek call data records as part of its probes, but the committee is of the view that the regulator needs more powers to assist in its regulatory responsibilities. In what could mean giving SEBI more teeth to act against auditors and CAs, the panel has also recommended powers to take “direct action against perpetrators of financial fraud.”
• The panel is in favour of including a new sub-section within the SEBI Act to prohibit schemes or artifices to manipulate the books of accounts and financial statements or to hide diversion, misutilisation or siphoning of public issue proceeds.
• The panel has proposed broadening the ambit of manipulative and unfair trade practices, stating that listed firms should have policies to deal with leaks of unpublished price sensitive information.
• the committee has also recommended that trading done by any entity in excess of verifiable financial sources should be deemed to be fraudulent, if such trading leads to any manipulation in the price or volume of the security.

4. Argentina Fail to pass Abortion Bill

• After a marathon, historic session in the Senate, a bill to allow elective abortion until the 14th week of pregnancy has failed to pass Argentina's upper house.
• Argentina now allows abortion only in cases of rape, if the foetus is disabled or for risks to a woman's health. Activists say 3,000 women have died of illegal abortions since 1983. Opponents, meanwhile, insist life begins at conception and complain the bill could force doctors to perform the procedure even when they believe it is hazardous.
• The issue has bitterly divided Argentines, pitting conservative doctors and the Roman Catholic Church against feminist groups and medical professionals.
• In large part, the Senate vote was split on geographical grounds with most northern province senators voting against the bill. Voting patterns also highlighted the lack of unity on the issue of abortion with many of Argentina's political parties and coalitions.

5. Cabinet extends PMGSY

• Giving a boost to rural road connectivity, the Cabinet Committee on Economic Affairs, chaired by the Prime Minister Narendra Modi , on Thursday approved the continuation of Pradhan Mantri Gram Sadak Yojana (PMGSY) beyond the 12th five year plan period.
• It will help in connecting 38,412 habitations at an estimated cost of Rs. 84,934 crore. The Cente's share in this will be Rs 54,900 crore and the states' share is Rs 30,034 crore.
• According to a Government release, initially the targets of PMGSY were to be achieved by March 2022, however, the sunset date of achievement of PMGSY-I was pre-poned to March, 2019, with enhanced fund allocation and changed funding pattern i.e. in the ratio of 60:40 between the Centre and State for all States except for 8 North Eastern and 3 Himalayan States (Jammu & Kashmir, Himachal Pradesh & Uttarakhand) for which it is 90:10.
• Pradhan Mantri Gram Sadak Yojana (PMGSY) was launched on December 25, 2000 ,with the objective to provide All-Weather road connectivity to the eligible unconnected habitations in rural areas of Country.

6.Indian telescope spots distant radio galaxy

• Astronomers have used an Indian telescope to discover the most distant radio galaxy ever known, located at a distance of 12 billion light-years.
• The galaxy, from a time when the universe was only 7% of its current age was found using the Giant Metrewave Radio Telescope (GMRT) in Pune.
• GMRT is an array of thirty fully steerable parabolic radio telescopes of 45-metre diameter. It is operated by the National Centre for Radio Astrophysics.
• The distance to this galaxy was determined using the Gemini North telescope in Hawaii and the Large Binocular Telescope in Arizona.
• The galaxy is perceived as it looked when the universe was only a billion years old.
• This also means that the light from this galaxy is almost 12 billion years old.
• Bright radio galaxies harbour supermassive black holes.
• Radio galaxies are very rare objects in the universe. They are colossal galaxies with a supermassive black hole in their centre that actively accretes gas and dust from its surroundings.
• This activity initiates the launch of high-energy jet streams, which are capable of accelerating charged particles around the supermassive black hole to almost the speed of light.
• The discovery of such galaxies at extremely large distances is important for our understanding of the formation and evolution of galaxies.

7.Legacy Data

• Legacy data is a set of documents comprising the NRC of 1951 and electoral rolls up to March 24, 1971, which is the cut-off date for detecting foreigners in Assam..
• NRC officials said the legacy data was available online for three years after the exercise began. It is now under login credentials, which means the access is limited to certain officials. Public access to the legacy data was reportedly withdrawn after cases of misuse.

Karnataka

1. Hubballi,Belgavi to develop to decongest Bengaluru

• Acknowledging the grouse in north Karnataka over regional disparity, Hubballi and Belagavi were fast developing as industrial hubs and decongesting Bengaluru was a policy of the State government.
• There was resistance from industries to go to other cities of the State, as in most industrial areas what the State has built are only industrial sheds and not holistic infrastructure.
• Belagavi with an aerospace SEZ and Hubballi with a manufacturing base were fast emerging on the startup map, while KLE institution in Belagavi and the new startup incubator Sandbox Startups were great enablers.

2. Karnataka 2050 Energy calculator

• Karnataka became the fourth Indian state to get an energy calculator developed by the UK. Chief Minister H D Kumaraswamy launched the Karnataka State Energy Calculator 2050, a first-of-its-kind web-enabled tool that promises to help the government attain energy security and, plan projects in the sector.
• The KSEC 2050 has been developed on the lines of the India Energy Security Scenario 2047 calculator created by Niti Aayog and supported by British High Commission. The tool was first developed by the UK Department of Energy and Climate Change.
• Karnataka’s energy calculator has been developed to suit the state’s needs. The tool will help the state track energy usage and carbon footprint. Karnataka now joins Andhra Pradesh, Gujarat and Assam that have their own energy calculator.
• The tool is getting ready for Maharashtra and Tamil Nadu. 

3. Integrate AIISH newborn screening card with health department

• Integration of the All India Institute of Speech and Hearing (AIISH) Newborn screening (NBS) card with the health and other departments concerned to prevent communication disorders.
• Linking of the NBS card with the government departments concerned would have a greater impact in preventing communication disorders.
• There was a difficulty in diagnosing the communication disorders in the recent past but, with the latest available technologies, it has become easy.
• The cost-effectiveness and manpower to handle available technologies is a matter of concern.