In one of the biggest deals in the microfinance industry, Ananya Birla’s Svatantra Microfin Private Ltd (Svatantra), has entered into a definitive agreement to acquire Chaitanya India Fin Credit Private Ltd (Chaitanya), a wholly owned subsidiary of Navi Group (Navi) for a Rs 1,479 crore.

The transaction is expected to be completed by the end of 2023, subject to receipt of regulatory approvals and customary closing adjustments.  Flipkart founder Sachin Bansal forayed into financial service by acquiring Chaitanya for `150 crore in October 2019.  The proposed acquisition is expected to transform the microfinance landscape, catapulting Svatantra into the second-largest microfinance entity in India with a reach of over 3.6 million active customers through 1,517 branches across 20 states and a combined asset under management of `12,409 crore as of March 31, 2023.

Finance minister Nirmala Sitharaman  has said the 28 per cent GST on full face value of supplies in casinos, race courses and online gaming will result in higher revenues.

The online gaming segment grew by 28 per cent in 2021 to reach USD 1.9 billion, as per NITI Aayog estimates referred in the Draft National Policy for Growth of Animation, Visual Effects, Gaming, Comic & Extended Reality sector in India prepared by the Information and Broadcasting Ministry.

In a written reply to a question in the Rajya Sabha, Sitharaman said casinos are currently paying 28 per cent GST on Gross Gaming Revenue (GGR).

India's clash with archrivals Pakistan in this year's ODI World Cup has been brought forward a day to October 14 among eight other fixture changes, the International Cricket Council (ICC) said.

The world's biggest cricket stadium in Ahmedabad will host the hotly anticipated match, originally set for October 15 at the same venue.

Fixtures for the 50-over World Cup were originally published in June after weeks of delays arising from Pakistan's reluctance to travel to India.

Indian media reports said Ahmedabad officials had raised concerns about their ability to provide adequate security because the match was originally scheduled at the start of a nine-day Hindu religious festival.

Ahmedabad is where Hindu-nationalist Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi's political career began and the showdown will take place at the stadium bearing his name.

India and Pakistan are bitter adversaries and only play cricket against each other in international tournaments due to longstanding political tensions.

Pakistan had agreed to visit India after they agreed to jointly host September's Asia Cup, allowing India to play its matches in Sri Lanka.

But it was only this week that the Pakistan Cricket Board got approval from their government to make the India trip for the 50-over World Cup.

Among the other changes, Pakistan's match against Sri Lanka has been brought forward by two days and will now be played on October 10.

Australia's match against South Africa in Lucknow will be played on October 12 instead of the following day.

England will take on Afghanistan in Delhi on October 15, a day after the original date.

New Zealand's game against Bangladesh, originally scheduled as a day match for October 14 in Chennai, will now be held on October 13 as a day-night contest.

England's match-up against Bangladesh in Dharamsala has now become a day match after it was originally scheduled to be played under lights.

Tickets for the World Cup will go on sale on August 25, the ICC said.

India's cricket board earned a surplus of around $1.5 billion in the five years to 2021-22, the country's parliament heard during a rare look into the sporting body's finances.

The Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) does not typically publish its finances in detail.

But it is known to be one of the world's most lucrative governing bodies thanks to India's diehard love of the game and periodic bidding wars over broadcast rights.

A government minister listed recent BCCI earnings in parliament which revealed revenue of $919 million and expenditure of $370 million for the year to March 2022, leaving a surplus of $549 million.

It was the board's biggest surplus out of the five years from 2017-18, with earnings of $3.3 billion and $1.8 billion in expenses for the same period.

The all-powerful BCCI is often said to call the shots in world cricket due to their outsized wealth compared to other national cricket boards.

The BCCI also stands to earn approximately $230 million per year between 2024-27 -- or 38.5 per cent of the International Cricket Council's annual earnings of $600 million, according to ESPN Cricinfo.

Last year, the BCCI sold its media rights for the wildly popular Indian Premier League Twenty20 tournament for a whopping $6.2 billion.

Q1. The name of Twitter has been changed to

1. X
2. Y
3. Z
4. M
5. None of These

Q2. According to minister of state for finance Pankaj Chaudhary central government’s debt in the last nine years have seen a near trebling  to

1. Rs 155.6 lakh crore
2. Rs 195.3 lakh crore
3. Rs  201.2 lakh crore
4. Rs 253.8 lakh crore
5. None of These

Q3. Name the Pepperfry Co-founder and CEO  who passed away in Leh due to cardiac arrest ?

1. Ashish Shah
2. Arvind Krishna
3. Ambareesh Murty
4. Nikesh Arora
5. None of These

Q4. Name the Indian-origin person who has been named Tesla's new Chief Financial Officer as the previous finance chief Zachary Kirkhorn announced his decision to step down ?

1. Laxman Narasimhan
2. Shantanu Narayen
3. Vasant Narasimhan
4. Vaibhan Taneja
5. None of These

Q5. Name the country which still accounts for the majority of automotive component imports in India with its share coming at 30% in the financial year 2022-23 ?

1. UAE
2. US
3. China
4. Germany
6. None of These

The Supreme Court on Aug 7  appointed a panel headed by former Maharashtra cadre IPS officer Dattatray Padsalgikar to oversee the probe into offences of rape in Manipur.

The apex court also constituted a panel of three women judges to oversee measures of relief, rehabilitation and rebuilding of houses and places of worship in Manipur. The three judges who will be part of the panel are namely, Justices Mittal, Shalini P Joshi and Asha Menon.

The court was hearing a batch of pleas relating to the ongoing clashes in Manipur.

Nationalist Congress Party (NCP) chief Sharad Pawar on Aug 8  removed senior party leader and MLA Thomas K Thomas from its working committee citing "serious indiscipline".

Thomas represents the Kuttanad constituency in the Kerala Assembly.

The NCP is a part of the ruling Left Democratic Front (LDF) in Kerala.

Assam Rifles personnel, based at Moirang Lamkhai checkpoint in Manipur's Bishnupur, where fresh violence erupted last week, have been withdrawn and substituted by the CRPF and the state police.

The withdrawal of Assam Rifles comes at a time when several groups of women in valley districts launched a demonstration, demanding the removal of the paramilitary force from the ethnic strife-torn northeastern state.