The Indonesian government banned Hizbut Tahrir, an organisation that wants to establish a global caliphate, under a new presidential decree criticised as draconian by rights groups. The decree signed by the President Joko “Jokowi” Widodo gives the government almost unfettered power to ban organisations deemed against the constitution and the official state ideology Pancasila.

Haryana Finance Minister Abhimanyu asked all deputy commissioners to set up financial literacy centres in the newly created 14 blocks on a priority basis to provide people access to financial institutions.

Three Indian woman judokas won bronze medals in their respective categories at the recently- concluded Asian Junior Judo Championships in Bishkek, Kyrgyzstan. Preety, who hails from Uttar Pradesh, won the bronze in the below 44kg weight category while Delhi’s Pinckey Balhara won bronze in the below 52kg weight category. Tulika Maan, who is also from Delhi, won a bronze in the above 78kg weight category.

The Trump administration announced a one-time increase of 15,000 additional H-2B visas for low-wage foreign workers after determining that the needs of US businesses cannot be satisfied with Americans willing and qualified to do the work. H-2B visas are mostly for foreign farm workers. US businesses hire people from Latin American countries. On the other hand, H-1B visas, which are the most sought after by Indian IT professionals, is for highly-skilled persons.

The Bank of England unveiled a new 10-pound plastic note featuring British literary great Jane Austen at Winchester Cathedral, where she is buried. The note, which follows the polymer 5 pound, will go into circulation on September 14, 2017 and has a portrait of Austen on the 200th anniversary of the author’s death. It is also the first Bank of England note to include a tactile feature to help visually-impaired people.

The Siddaramaiah-led Karnataka government has formed a nine-member committee to submit a report on designing a separate flag for the state and providing a legal standing for it. The committee will be headed by the Principal Secretary, Department of Kannada and Culture. If the flag comes into being, Karnataka will be the second state to have its official flag after Jammu and Kashmir, which enjoys a special status under Article 370 of the Constitution.

A controversial bill to toughen France’s security laws has cleared its first hurdle when the conservative-dominated Senate approved the legislation by a majority. Senators backed a first reading of the bill by 229 votes to 106. The new laws, a campaign pledge of President Emmanuel Macron, will replace a state of emergency imposed after the November 2015 terror attacks in Paris that left 130 people dead. Under the state of emergency, authorities have the power to place people under house arrest, order house searches and ban public gatherings without the prior approval of a judge.

The state cabinet of Maharashtra chaired by Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis has approved a revised policy of the ‘Majhi Kanya Bhagyashree’ scheme. As per the scheme, families who have a yearly income of up to RS 7.5 lakh will be eligible for the scheme. The scheme was launched by the state government on April 1, 2016 in place of ‘Sukanya’ scheme. It is aimed at improving the skewed girl child ratio, prevent sex determination and female foeticide, and support female education.

The three-member committee formed by the Committee of Administrators (CoA) headed by former CAG Vinod Rai has appointed Bharat Arun as the bowling coach of Indian cricket team. Besides, they also decided to retain Sanjay Bangar as batting coach and R Sridhar as fielding coach. In addition to batting coach, Bangar will also serve as Ravi Shastri’s deputy. In addition to these appointments Patrick Farhart will continue as the physio of the team and Shankar Basu the trainer.

In a first of its kind, Telangana State will develop eco-friendly bridges over the 72-km long the Pranahita barrage. The barrage cut across the tiger corridor linking the Tadoba-Andhari Tiger Reserve (TATR) in the Chandrapur district, Maharashtra with the forests in Telangana’s Kumram Bheem Asifabad district.