The Rajya Sabha passed the Motor Vehicles (Amendment), Bill, 2019 with some amendments. The bill was passed yesterday with 108 members voting in favour of the bill and 13 against.

It will be again sent to the Lok Sabha for approval as it was passed with Amendments.

The bill seeks to amend the Motor Vehicles Act, 1988 to provide for road safety. Provisions related to increasing penalties of traffic violations, addressing issues on third-party insurance, regulation of cab aggregators and road safety are proposed in the amendment. 

President Ram Nath Kovind has given his nod to the Muslim Women (Protection of Rights on Marriage) Bill, 2019 that abolishes the practice of instant Triple Talaq. 

The law comes into force retrospectively from 19th September 2018. A Gazette Notification to this effect was issued yesterday. The Parliament had passed the bill on Tuesday.
 
The bill seeks to declare the practice of instant Triple Talaq as void and illegal and makes it a cognizable offence. 

It also provides allowance to women victims and their dependent children. The offence is made compoundable with the permission of the Magistrate at the instance of the married Muslim woman upon whom talaq is pronounced. 

United State is working hard with the Indian government to provide India with opportunities to grow its economy as a part of the Trump Administration's Indo-Pacific strategy, Secretary of State Mike Pompeo said yesterday in response to a question.

Pompeo's remarks come weeks after a delegation of the US Trade Representatives travelled to India for talks on a wide range of bilateral trade issues, in particular tax and tariffs.

Meanwhile, India's Ambassador to the US Harsh Vardhan Shringla said in Colorado that trade between the two countries has grown to USD 142 billion in 2018, and is expected to reach USD 238 billion by 2025. 

He said the next stage of growth will be driven by the small and medium-sized enterprises (SME) in both the countries

NITI Aayog's flagship initiative, the Atal Innovation Mission (AIM) will launch a new programme for Community Innovation in New Delhi today. The new initiative aims to encourage the spirit of innovation in the country. 

It will be jointly inaugurated by Union Ministers Ramesh Pokhriyal Nishank and Dharmendra Pradhan. Speaking about it, AIM Mission Director, R Ramanan, said, the purpose of the programme is to make innovation eco-system socially inclusive as well as to ensure equitable distribution of infrastructure for innovation across the country. 

Former Reserve Bank of India Deputy Governor and renowned economist Subir Gokarn passed away on July 30.

The news of his demise was shared by Shamika Ravi, member of the Economic Advisory Council to the Prime Minister (EAC-PM).

"I share this with a heavy heart...Subir Gokarn, my friend and colleague, passed away a few hours back," she tweeted.

Gokarn, who was 60, was battling cancer, according to a Business Standard report.

The Appointments Committee of Cabinet (ACC) headed by Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Tuesday approved the appointment of Rajiv Kumar as the administrative head of one of the key economic policy making divisions of the government - the ministry of finance.

The finance secretary is the senior-most bureaucrat among the finance ministry’s five departments—economic affairs, revenue, expenditure, financial services and department of investment and public asset management (DIPAM). Kumar a veteran of power corridors of the North Block, is also secretary, financial services. He succeeded 1983 batch Indian Administrative Service (IAS) officer Subhash Chandra Garg, who is currently the power secretary. Garg, who was also the economic affairs secretary, was transferred to the ministry of power in a major bureaucratic reshuffle on 24 July.

Lok Sabha today passed the Consumer Protection Bill, 2019 that aims at protecting the interests of consumers by establishing authorities for timely and effective administration and settlement of consumers’ dispute. 

It has a provision for Central government to set up a Central Consumer Protection Authority to promote, protect and enforce the rights of consumers. 

The authority will have the power to impose a penalty on a manufacturer or an endorser of up to 10 lakh rupees and imprisonment for up to two years for a false or misleading advertisement. 

India and Myanmar today signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) on defence co-operation. 

The MoU was signed in New Delhi after the talks between Minister of State for Defence, Shripad Yesso Naik and Commander-in-Chief of Defence Services of Myanmar, Senior General Min Aung Hlaing. 

Defence Ministry in a release said, the talks were aimed at enhancing defence co-operation, review joint exercises and training provided to Myanmar Defence Services. It also aims to strengthen maritime security by joint surveillance and capacity building, medical co-operation, pollution response and for developing new infrastructure. 

Odisha Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik on Monday announced in the State Assembly that the Sachivalaya or Secretariat building in Bhubaneswar will now be called ‘Lok Seva Bhavan’.

“In a democracy people are masters and we all exist to serve them,” said Mr. Patnaik while making the announcement during the budget discussion on the expenditures of the home and general administration departments.

“If our State has grown at a rate higher than the national growth rate, if the State has attracted investment worth crores of rupees, it is because of the peaceful law and order situation here,” said Mr. Patnaik.

Odisha has been vindicated! Odisha has received the geographical indication (GI) tag for its local version of the Rasgulla. Odisha that has also been claiming the sweet as its own, has received the GI tag for 'Odisha Rasagola'. The formal certification was issued by Chennai-based GI Registry on its website.

This tag comes amid a years-long debate between West Bengal and Odisha over where the sweet had originated. In November 2017, West Bengal was granted the tag which led people to erroneously believe that the GI Registry recognised Bengal as its place of origin, which is factually incorrect.

The Odisha Small Industries Corporation Ltd that has been awarded the GI tag said in its submission, "Odisha Rasagola is very soft to feel, juicy and non-chewy in consistency and can be swallowed without teeth pressure. The rasogolla/rasgulla prepared in other places is circular in shape, milk white in colour and basically spongy and chewy in consistency." The Odisha government had filed for geographical recognition of the 'Odishara Rasagulla' with the GI Registry in Chennai last year.