17th July 2018 Current Affairs - Get Daily Updated Current Affairs

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

The Board of Life Insurance Corporation (LIC) has given its approval to its 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.

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.

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 Kaptan Singh Solanki has given additional charge of Himachal Pradesh by President Ram Nath Kovind.
Solanki will discharge the ” the functions of the Governor of Himachal Pradesh, in addition to its his own duties” during the absenc of Himachal Governor Acharya Devrat, while Devrat is in leave.

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.