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National News
Compensatory Afforestation Fund bill, 2015
- To create special funds like National Compensatory Afforestation Fund and also a State Compensatory Afforestation Fund.
- Bill facilitates for unlocking of 41,000 crore which is for the forest land.
Bengaluru Tops the Chart of Online Learning in India
- India is the third largest online market with 1.3 million learners Out of Coursera’s 18 million registered learners, while the list is topped by the US followed by China.
- Bengaluru emerged as the top city in India for online learning with the highest number of registered learners, followed by Delhi, Mumbai, Chennai and Hyderabad.
- Online learners in India are entrepreneurial, young professionals in their 20s and 30s who are laser focused on gaining the technical skills that are sought after by India’s top employers.
Tips are not salary income, still taxable: SC
- Supreme Court has held that tips paid by customers to staff for availing services in restaurants do not constitute salary,
- The employer is not liable to deduct tax at source on such payments under income-tax laws.
- the court observed that such tips at the hands of employees would be chargeable as “income from other sources”.
International
World Wildlife Fund released report titled Protecting People through Nature
- In 96 countries, around 229 natural and mixed World heritage sites including Western Ghats facing Threats
- Sites are affected due to their distinctive values, migration the livelihoods and well-being of human
75 million children in desperate need of education support: UNICEF
- New findings show that nearly a quarter of the world’s school-aged children – 462 million – now live with affected by crisis.
- UNICEF observed that only 2% of global humanitarian appeals are on average dedicated to education.
Business and Economy
International Monetary Fund has continued growth forecast for India this year at 7.5%
- Growth was driven by Private consumption, Weak Exports and Sluggish credit growth weight on the Indian Economy.
- Continued growth forecast for India in 2016 mounted at 7.5 % by private consumption
- Beneficial accounts of lower oil prices in India makes shifted economy in the world
- GDP increase up to 7.5% this year
Kotak Bank opens international unit in Gujarat’s GIFT City
- Kotak Mahindra Bank has opened IFSC Banking unit at Gujarat International Finance Tec-City (GIFT) City.
- Six months over $250 million worth of business transactions done at IFSC GIFT city which is attracting interest from the BFSI sector in India
Willful defaulters owe Rs 66,000 cr to govt banks
- That sickening banking sector has increased the number of willful defaulters of PSBs from 5,554 to 7,686 in three years to December 2015
- Amount involved more than doubled in the period to Rs 66,190 crore from Rs 27,749 crore.
- Top 50 defaulters of PSU’s had an exposure of Rs 1.21 lakh crore as on December last year.
- Willful defaulter category accounts about 16% of the overall bad loans (Rs 400,000 crore) of Indian banks.
Uber ties up with Alipay globally
- Tie-up aims to bring better experiences for our users globally.
- Partnership facilitates Chinese travelers to enable rides through this solution in more than 400 cities.
- Collaboration also extends to the Alipay’s strategic global partners like Mobile payment company Paytm in India.
CarDekho acquires virtual reality startup Volob Technologies
- Jaipur-based Girnar Software group’s CarDekho has acquired virtual reality company Volob Technologies in an all-cash deal
- The company is currently valued at $380 million, recently raised funds from Google Capital and Hillhouse
People in News
Former TCS CFO Mahalingam is non-executive chairman of City Union Bank
- He is currently an Independent Director on the board of the bank.
- He is a well-known name in the field of IT (information technology).
Mexican diplomat Patricia Espinosa selected as executive secretary of UNFCCC
- Mexico’s ambassador to Germany Patricia Espinosa Cantellano has been appointed as Executive Secretary of the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change.
- She will succeed the incumbent Christiana Figueres when her term ends in July 2016
- She was serving as Mexico’s ambassador to Germany.
Nihal Bitla, who became face of progeria campaign in India, dies at 15
- Face of India’s awareness campaign against the country’s first reported case of progeria in India, dies at 15.
- Helped other children affected by the disease live a normal life.
- Nihal, who aged just 15, had a body that felt like it was beyond 60 years
Science and Technology
Union Railways Ministry launches E-enabled PMIS app for proper monitoring of projects
- Will be a web-enabled IT- application will contain all the information about the ongoing projects which will help in reducing the completion time.
- App is launched keeping the view in projects that currently Indian Railways have over 600 major projects of network expansion and modernization costing nearby 4.5 lakh crores
Union Commerce Ministry launched EXIM Analytics Dashboard for export, import data
- Dashboard on EXIM Analytics to provide easy access to the public on export and import trends of the country.
- Portal developed by the Directorate General of Commercial Intelligence and Statistics, at the request of the Commerce Ministry.
- Initiative on export – import will enable small and new start-up businessmen to foray into global trade based on reliable government information.
ISRO Signs MoU with 37 countries for exploration and use of outer space
- The MoUs included in various field
- Joint development of advanced scientific instruments to observe earth and universe,
- Joint realization of satellite missions,
- Jointly carrying out calibration and validation experiments,
- Conducting airborne campaign with advanced instruments,
- Deep space navigation and communication support for space science missions,
- Development of advanced technologies for building and launching of spacecraft’s for earth observation and space science exploration,
- Fields to explore newer research activities.
Three Earth-like planets discovered orbiting dwarf star
- Three potentially habitable, Earth-like planets orbiting an ultracool dwarf star that is nearly 40 light-years away in another star system.
- Dwarf star which is scientifically ultra-cool is known as TRAPPIST-1. It’s at the end of the range for what classifies as a star as half the temperature and a tenth the mass of the sun.
Awards
63rd National Film Awards
- Well known celebrities Bachchan and Kangana Ranaut received National award from the Honourable President Pranab Mukherjee.
- Kangana Renaut won the National award in the film “Tanu Weds Manu Returns” for the dual role.
- Historical epic drama “Bajirao Mastani” achieved numerous awards.
- Prominent director in the Telugu industry S.S. Rajamouli won the award in Best Feature Film Category named the film “Baahubali: The Beginning”.
Golden Jubilee celebrations of federation of Indian export organization
- President of India, Shri Pranab Mukherjee honored the Golden Jubilee Celebrations of the Federation of Indian Export Organizations (FIEO)
- Niryat Shree Awards:
- Gold Trophy was awarded to MIOT Hospitals Limited – Highest foreign Exchange earner in the country
- Reliance Industries awarded with Gold Trophy – Highest Foreign exchange
- PC Jewellers – Silver Trophy in the Gems and Jewellery Category
- Niryat Bandhu Awards:
- Canara Bank – Gold
- Bank of India – Silver
- Punjab National Bank – Bronze
Guinness record for Maharashtra Man with ‘Gold Shirt’
- Maharashtra’s hailed eminent businessman-politician Pankaj Parakh, the Man with the Golden Shirt
- The Man with the Golden Shirt has secured a place in the Guinness World Records (GWR).
- The gold shirt weighs 10 kg and is currently valued at over Rs.1.30 crore
- GWR certificate issued mentions Parakh, as the man with the most expensive gold shirt in the world which costs a staggering Rs. 98, 35,099 as on August 1, 2014.
Sports
Seven Indian shuttlers qualify for Rio Olympic
- Women’s Singles-Saina Nehwal & PV Sindhu
- Women’s Doubles-Jwala Gutta & Ashwini Ponnappa
- Men’s Singles-Kidambi srikanth
- Men’s Doubles-Manu Attri and Sumeeth Reddy
Mark Selby won World Snooker Championship
- England’s world number one Mark Selby beat China’s Ding Junhui by 18-14 to win World Championship title.