7th AUGUST 2026 ENGLISH TNPSC CURRENT AFFAIRS PDF TNPSC SHOUTERS
Felix Gerald Appointed Chairperson of the Tamil Nadu Minorities Commission
- Senior journalist Felix Gerald has been appointed as the new Chairperson of the Tamil Nadu State Minorities Commission. The Tamil Nadu government has issued an official order to this effect. The order states that he will hold this position for the next three years.
- A.P. Thamim Ansari has been officially appointed as the new Chairperson of the Tamil Nadu Minorities Economic Development Corporation (TAMCO) in accordance with a Tamil Nadu government order. It is noteworthy that this corporation plays a pivotal role in safeguarding the interests of minority communities and uplifting their economic status.
- The Collegium, led by the Chief Justice of the Madras High Court, forwarded the list of proposed new judges to the Supreme Court. The Supreme Court Collegium reviewed the list and recommended it to the Union Government. President Droupadi Murmu has granted her approval to the list.
- Subsequently, the order regarding the appointment of the new judges was published in the Union Government's Gazette. Eight lawyers Krishnaswamy Govindarajan, Rajnish Pathiyil, Natarajan Ramesh, G.K. Muthukumar, Ramakrishnan Rajesh Vivekanandan, Sankaranarayanan Ravikumar, Nagarajan Dileep Kumar, and Ellappan Manoharan and seven district judges Dr. P. Murugan, M.D. Sumathi, Shanmugam Karthikeyan, Baluchamy Murugesan, N. Gunasekaran, S. Alli, and Thirumagal Chandrasekar have been appointed as new judges.
- Their tenure is for two years, after which they will be confirmed in their positions. With these appointments, the total number of High Court judges has risen to 66, and the number of vacancies has decreased to nine.
- Amidst rising tensions in West Asia, Pakistan, Saudi Arabia, and Turkey have entered into a new security agreement. The 'Makkah Al-Mukarramah Summit' on joint security was held at the Al-Safa Palace in Makkah, Saudi Arabia.
- During this summit, a joint security agreement was signed by Pakistan's Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif, Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman, and Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan.
- Under this agreement, an attack on any one of these three nations will be considered an attack on the other two as well. The agreement aims to strengthen collective deterrence capabilities against any act of aggression.
- Union Minister for Micro, Small and Medium Enterprises (MSME), Jitan Ram Manjhi, introduced the MSME Development Amendment Bill in the Lok Sabha.
- The Bill was introduced to address delays and complications faced by MSMEs in receiving payments for goods or services supplied to other entities.
- Specifically, the legislation mandates that Central Public Sector Undertakings (CPSUs) procuring goods or services from MSMEs must make payments exclusively through the 'Trade Receivables Discounting System' (TReDS).
- Furthermore, it stipulates that if conciliation efforts to resolve a dispute between the parties fail, arbitration proceedings must be initiated within 30 days from the date the conciliation process concluded.
- A new amendment bill, introduced by Union Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman, was successfully passed in Parliament via a voice vote without debate; it permits banks and entities providing digital payment services to levy charges on UPI transactions.
- This grants the Central Government full legal authority to make appropriate changes to fee policies regarding digital transactions in the future.
- Under the legal provisions previously in force, banks and service providers were not permitted to levy any charges for UPI transactions. However, this new amendment has reportedly been introduced to further enhance the country's digital infrastructure and ensure a steady revenue stream for banks.
- This legal amendment is expected to be of great assistance, in the long run, to companies providing financial transaction services and to infrastructure development.
