# Chief of Defense staff

• Serving or retired three star military officers, apart from the present army, IAF and Navy chiefs who are four star generals, will now also be considered for the Chief of Defense staff post.
• CDS post has been lying vacant since General Bipin Rawat’s untimely death in a helicopter crash on December 8 last year.
• The government has tweaked the army, IAF and Navy rules to widen the “pool of selection” for the country’s top military post to include even retired lieutenant generals, air marshals and vice admirals, provided they are under 62 years.
• The amendments are an indicator that the government is moving ahead to appoint the next CDS after an inexplicable delay of six months.

# World bank

• The world Bank on Tuesday cut India’s economic growth forecast for the current fiscal to 7.5% as rising inflation, supply chain disruptions and geopolitical tensions taper recovery.
• This is the second time that the World Bank has revised its forecasts.
• World Bank has earlier forecasted the GDP growth rate at 8 percent.

# Card information storage

• With the June 30 deadline nearing for online business to tokenise cards to enable recurring use, Indian consumers are likely to face problems with e-subscriptions for international magazines and other payments that require card information storage.
• For tokenisation, companies have to tie up with payment service providers and put systems in place so that they can debit payments to customer cards without having to store the card information on their servers.
• In May, Apple informed customers that it will no longer accept Indian debit or credit card for app purchases or subscription, citing new norms from the RBI.
• As far as domestic payments are concerned, most Indian firms have achieved compliance.

# China

• Cambodia and Beijing on Tuesday denied a report that they are building a secret naval facility for the Chinese fleet.
• An American newspaper Washington Post citing unnamed western officials said a new facility at Cambodia’s Ream base – strategically located on the Gulf of Thailand – was being built for the exclusive use of the Chinese navy.