The RBI on  Aug 12 issued fresh instructions barring recovery agents from resorting to intimidation of borrowers as well as calling them before 8 am and after 7 pm.

While issuing additional instructions to regulated entities including banks, NBFCs and ARCs, Reserve Bank (RBI) said it has observed that recovery agents are deviating from its instructions with regard to the recovery of loans.

It also asked them not to send inappropriate messages to them in any form, make threatening or anonymous calls besides not calling the borrower before 8 am and after 7 pm for recovery of overdue loans, or make false and misleading representations.

RBI has issued guidelines from time to time as part of the Fair Practices Code (FPC), and has already advised REs that they should not resort to intimidation or harassment of their borrowers, calling them on phone at odd hours in their debt collection efforts, among others.

The banking regulator said it took into account certain recent developments including growing incidences of unacceptable practices followed by RAs (recovery agents) to issue these additional instructions to REs.

These additions have extended the scope of guidelines while limiting the hours for calling borrowers on phone for recovery of overdue loans.

RBI said these instructions will be applicable to all commercial banks (including regional rural banks), Cooperative Banks, Non-Banking Financial Companies (NBFCs), Asset Reconstruction Companies (ARCs) and all India financial institutions.

The government has come up with a standard operating procedure (SoP) for the implementation of the new rule on work from home (WFH) in special economic zones.

As per the SoP released on  Aug 12 by the Ministry of Commerce, the units that intend to or are implementing WFH, will formulate a WFH scheme and submit applications to the relevant development commissioner notifying the adoption of the scheme, at least 15 days in advance of the date it is intended to put into effect.

The application, it said, should cover the date of application, the total number of employees, details of the employees intended to be covered, duration of the scheme, and details of the scheme among other things. As per the new rule, the government will allow the WFH option to be extended to 50% of the staff, including contractual workers, and for a maximum period of one year, for firms operating in special economic zones (SEZ). 

Five state-owned Chinese companies, including the country's leading energy and chemical firm, have chosen to delist from the New York Stock Exchange (NYSE) by the end of August.

In separate statements issued on Aug 12 , China Life Insurance, PetroChina, Sinopec, Aluminum Corporation of China and Sinopec Shanghai Petrochemical said they had notified the NYSE and applied for "voluntary delisting", reports CNN.

The companies cited "low turnover in the US" and "high administrative burden and costs" as their reason for the departure.

China's securities watchdog, the China Securities Regulatory Commission, said that it is aware of the situation and that "it is normal for companies to list or delist from any market".

The commission can kick companies off the stock exchange if they fail to allow US watchdogs to inspect their financial audits for three straight years. China has for years rejected US audits of its firms.

Chinese companies that are traded overseas are required to hold their audit papers in mainland China, where they cannot be examined by foreign agencies.

But in April, China's securities watchdog proposed changing a decade-old rule that forbids Chinese firms from sharing sensitive data and financial information with overseas regulators.

The amendment could allow US regulators to inspect audit reports of Chinese companies listed in New York.

The Legends League Cricket season two is to be dedicated to the 75th year celebration of Indian Independence and the first match of the season will be a special match to be held on September 16 at Eden Garden, Kolkata.

It will be played between India vs World as India Maharajas vs World Giants. Players from across 10 foreign countries will be participating in the match.

The league will commence on September 17, 2022, wherein 4 teams in franchise format will be competing in the Legends League Cricket Franchise format. Overall 15 matches will be played this season.

India Maharajas: Sourav Ganguly (C), Virender Sehwag, Mohammed Kaif, Yusuf Pathan, Subramaniam Badrinath, Irfan Pathan, Parthiv Patel (wk), Stuart Binny, S Sreesanth, Harbhajan Singh, Naman Ojha (wk), Ashoke Dinda, Pragyan Ojha, Ajay Jadeja, RP Singh, Joginder Sharma and Reetinder Singh Sodhi.

World Giants: Eoin Morgan (c), Lendl Simmons, Herschelle Gibbs, Jacques Kallis, Sanath Jayasuriya, Matt Prior (wk), Nathan McCullum, Jonty Rhodes, Muttiah Muralitharan, Dale Steyn, Hamilton Masakadza, Mashrafe Mortaza, Asghar Afghan, Mitchell Johnson, Brett Lee, Kevin O Brien and Denesh Ramdin (wk).

Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) has set aside a window in March 2023 for the first-ever edition of women's Indian Premier League (IPL) and the process to get the show on the road is underway, as per board president Sourav Ganguly.

As per ESPNCricinfo, the board has made changes to its women's domestic cricket calendar to make way for women's IPL. The women's season that generally goes on from November to April has been advanced by a month, with the season set to begin on October 11 with T20 competition and end in February 2023 with an inter-zonal ODI competition.

Since 2018, BCCI has been organising the Women's T20 Challenge. What started as a one-off exhibition match between two teams in the first season is now a three-team competition. Many players from outside India have also joined the competition. But despite this, the clamour to have a much bigger competition just like men's IPL is growing among players and fans for a while.

Q1. A contingent of the Indian Air Force (IAF) on Aug 12 left for Malaysia to participate in a bilateral exercise named

1. Gandiv Vijay
2. Garud Lehar
3. Vayu Shakti
4. Udarashakti
5. None of These

Q2. Name the  noted author and former diplomat turned politician  who has resigned  from the All Indian Trinamool Congress (AITC) ?

1. S. Jaishankar
2. Natwar Singh
3. Pavan K Varma
4. Shashi Tharoor
5. None of These

Q3. Name the countries which have said that  they have left a Chinese-backed forum aimed at boosting relations with Eastern European countries, in what appears to be a new setback for China's increasingly assertive diplomacy ?

1. Latvia and Estonia
2. Latvia and Lithuania
3. Estonia and Lithuania
4. Serbia and Kosovo
5. None of These

Q4. Name the campaign under which  the Union government has urged people to hoist or display tricolours in their houses from August 13 to 15 to mark the 75th anniversary of India's independence ?

1. Ghar Ghar Tiranga
2. Ghar  Ghar Tiranga
3. Har Ghar Tiranga
4. Ghar  Pe Tiranga
5. None of These

Q5. Pakistan has confirmed that it will attend the international counter-terrorism exercises under the banner of the Shanghai Cooperation Organization (SCO) to be held in

1. Afghanistan
2. Tajikistan
3. India
4. Russia
5. None of These

Answers

1--------------4   Udarashakti

2----------------3    Pavan K Varma

3-----------------1   Latvia and Estonia

4----------------- 3   Har Ghar Tiranga'

5-----------------3    India

The Indian national flag being installed at 150 heritage sites under the jurisdiction of the Archaeological Survey of India (ASI) across states as part of the ongoing Azadi Ka Amrit Mahotsav (AKAM), the commemoration of 75 years of Independence, will become permanent fixtures. After recommendations from circles (sub offices), the Survey selected historical structures, which are also being illuminated in tricolour on this Independence Day.

Noting that freebies and social welfare schemes are two different things, the Supreme Court on  Aug 11 said a balance has to be struck between the economy losing money and welfare measures. The court also ruled out the possibility of considering a plea for de-recognising parties for making promises to give freebies.

A bench comprising Chief Justice N V Ramana and Justice Krishna Murari said the idea to de-recognise political parties for making promises to give irrational freebies during the polls was ‘undemocratic’ and asked stakeholders to give suggestions on this aspect before August 17.

However, he added that the promise to grant irrational freebies during the poll process is a ‘serious issue’.

The SC was hearing a PIL filed by lawyer Ashwini Upadhyay, which opposes the practice of political parties promising freebies during elections and seeks the Election Commission to invoke its powers to freeze their election symbols and cancel their registration.

The poll panel, in its August 10 additional affidavit, told the Supreme Court that it welcomed the suggestion of setting up an expert panel to brainstorm the issue of freebies announced during elections.