1. BJD leader Mamata Mohanta quit her party Wednesday, hours after she resigned as a Rajya Sabha MP amid indications that she might join the BJP.

2. Hamas leader Ismail Haniyeh was killed by a predawn airstrike in the Iranian capital Wednesday.

3. The Union Public Service Commission (UPSC) Wednesday said it has cancelled the provisional candidature of probationary IAS officer Puja Khedkar and debarred her from all future examinations or selections.

4.Union Minister of Road Transport and Highways Nitin Gadkari has requested Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman to withdraw the 18 per cent goods and services tax (GST) on life and medical insurance premiums

5. The state government Wednesday said the body of one of the two missing persons from Odisha has been found in landslide-hit Wayanad in Kerala.

6. The state government has detected misappropriation of funds to the tune of `224.61 crore in different cooperative banks across the state, Cooperation Minister Pradeep Bal Samanta told the Assembly Wednesday.

7. Balimela hydroelectric project is running through troubled times as technical snags continue to cripple six of its power units, despite the government pumping in over `300 crore on their renovation.

8. After a three-month ban, Bhitarkanika National Park will be reopened for tourists and visitors August 1.

9. The row over BJP MP Anurag Thakur’s remarks in Lok Sabha escalated Wednesday with the Congress submitting a notice to move a privilege motion against Prime Minister Narendra Modi for posting on ‘X’ a video that allegedly also contained expunged portions of Thakur’s speech.

10. The Delhi government Wednesday issued guidelines for safety and security of school students in the aftermath of the Rajinder Nagar coaching centre flooding incident, which claimed the lives of three UPSC aspirant.

11. India’s space regulator Wednesday offered an orbital slot to private sector companies to build and operate a communications satellite to provide services in diverse sectors such as telephone, television, radio and internet.

12. Ukraine has received the first F-16 fighter jets that it has sought for months to fight back against an onslaught of Russian missile strikes, a US official confirmed to the Associated Press.

13. Vice President Kamala Harris will hold her first rally with her new Vice Presidential nominee Tuesday August 6 in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, launching a four day battleground tour that includes Michigan and Arizona, the campaign said.

14.  India's central bank Wednesday proposed to allow a wider set of alternatives, including fingerprints and passwords, as additional factors of authentication for all digital transactions.

15. The Centre’s fiscal deficit at the end of the first quarter touched 8.1 per cent of the full-year target, government data showed Wednesday.

16. Benchmark BSE Sensex rose by nearly 286 points to close at a record high while Nifty settled above 24,950 level Wednesday, extending their winning run to the fourth day on gains in metal, power and select auto shares.

17. Steel major Tata Steel Wednesday reported a 75 per cent rise in its consolidated net profit at `918.57 crore in June 2024 quarter as the company managed to reduce its expenses.

18. C P Radhakrishnan was sworn in as the Governor of Maharashtra on Wednesday evening.

19. The Tata Institute of Social Sciences (TISS) on Wednesday said it has asked PhD scholars from 2017, 2018 and 2019 batches to vacate their hostel rooms for staying beyond the allotted five-year period.

20. The Manipur government in its Budget for fiscal 2025 has allocated ₹ 2,900 crore to strengthen the state police. It also reported a revenue loss of ₹ 500 crore in the last fiscal due to the ethnic violence.