1. Subrahmanyam Jaishankar appointed as new Foreign Secretary
Union Government has appointed Subrahmanyam Jaishankar as the new Secretary of
Ministry of External Affairs (i.e. Foreign Secretary).
His name was cleared by Appointments Committee of the Cabinet (ACC) chaired by Prime Minister Narendra Modi.
He will be replacing incumbent Foreign Secretary Sujatha Singh whose tenure was curtailed with immediate effect. She had assumed office in August 2013 and was due to retire in August 2015.
2. Union Government to sell up to 10% stake in Coal India Limited (CIL)
Union government has announced to sell up to 10 per cent stake in state owned Coal India Limited (CIL) on 30 January 2015.
This decision was cleared by high-powered ministerial panel headed by Finance Minister Arun Jaitley.
It will help the government to raise revenue of 24,000 crore rupees at the current market price and meet the fiscal deficit.
Government is planning to divest 5 per cent stake in the company via share sale and the remaining 5 per cent through the green-shoe option.
Currently, the government holds 89.65 per cent stake in CIL. As per the minimum shareholding norms for listed companies, the government needs to lower its stake to 75 percent.
3.Kalyan Singh sworn in as Himachal Pradesh Governor
Rajasthan Governor Kalyan Singh has sworn in as the 26th Governor of Himachal Pradesh.
He was administered oath of office by Himachal Pradesh High Court Chief Justice Mansoor Ahmed Mir at oath taking ceremony held at Raj Bhawan in Shimla.
He was given an additional charge of Himachal Pradesh after then governor Urmila Singh, completed the full five year term on January 24.
4. Maharashtra government issues Letter of Intent to buy B R Ambedkar’s London house
Maharashtra government has issued Letter of Intent (LoI) to buy Dr Bhimrao Ramji Ambedkar’s London house to the Indian High Commission in United Kingdom(UK).
This is the house where architect of the Indian Constitution Ambedkar had lived in 1920 during his stint with the London School of Economics.
State government is buying this 2050 square feet three-storey house on 10, King Henry Road, NW3 of London and has finalised at a sum of 35 crore rupees.
This house is of cultural and national importance and pride of millions of people of India as Dr. Ambedkar had stayed in it when he was completing higher studies at the London School of Economics in 1920-21.
State government after buying the house will convert it into a memorial-cum-museum and open it to public from 14 April, 2015 i.e. on the 124 birth anniversary of the architect of the Indian constitution.
5. Nation pays tributes to Lala Lajpat Rai on his 150th birth anniversary
On 28 January 2015, nation paid tributes to national martyr of freedom movement, Lala Lajpat Rai on his 150th birth anniversary.
Events marking this day: Various seminars and symposia were organised at many places in Punjab to remember Lala Lajpat Rai. Special programme and sports meet was organised in his ancestral village Dhudi ke of Moga district where thousands of people paid their tributes to national martyr at the memorial. While, intellectual’s apprised young generation about Lala and his sacrifice for the nation.
6. US tech giant Apple reports largest quarterly profit in history
US technology giant Apple, has reported the biggest quarterly profit of 18 billion US dollar.
It is the biggest quarterly profit ever made by any public company in World and broke the previous record of ExxonMobil which had earlier topped by making $15.9 billion profit in 2012.
Apple’s revenue had grown to $74.6 billion in 2014 from $57.6 billion in 2013 i.e. reporting 30% increase in profit.
The main reason for Apple’s profit is record sale of iPhones. The company has sold 74.5 million iPhones in quarter ending December 2014 with 39.9% profit per product.
Apple’s impressive profit comes after it shifted towards the massive untapped potential of Chinese market and partnering with China Mobile Limited the largest global mobile carrier.
Company sales in China had hit $16 billion in 2014- a 70% increase from 2013 and almost equalling the $17 billion in sales the company recorded in Europe 2013.
7. Hike Messenger introduces free voice calling service to its users
Hike Messenger, a home-grown chat application has introduced free voice-calling feature called Hike Calls to its users.
This feature will allow its users to call each other for free, over 2G, 3G and Wi-Fi and across the globe in over 200 countries.
Hike Messenger has introduced this service, after it had acquired free calling application company – Zip Phone earlier in January 2015.
This feature has been launched in beta on Android operating system, which contributes to over 90 percent of Hike’s user base. While, the iOS and Windows versions will be released later.
About Hike Messenger
It was launched on 12th December 2012 and is a joint venture between Bharti Enterprises and Softbank.
User base: In August 2014, Hike had hit 35 million users.
8. Veteran Malayalam actor Mala Aravindan passes away
Veteran Malayalam actor Mala Aravindan has passed away in Coimbatore, Tamil Nadu. He was 76.
He was best known for his work as a comedian, character artist in Malayalam films and was also noted theatre personality. He was also the president of the Association of Malayalam Movie Artists (AMMA).
9. India to host World T20 in 2016
India has been confirmed as host for the 2016 Twenty20 World Cup, scheduled to be held from March 11 to April 3, the ICC announced after ratifying its decision in the Board meeting in Dubai on Thursday.
Holding its first meeting of the year at the ICC headquarters, which was chaired by N Srinivasan and presided by Mustafa Kamal in the presence of all the full-member and associate representatives, the board took some major decisions issued quite a few directives to the cricket world.
The apex cricket body approved the dates for its main events through to 2019, following its Board meeting on Wednesday.
Though the tournaments were awarded to the countries in 2013, the dates were approved during this two-day meeting.
The board also approved the dates for the 2017 Champions Trophy in England which will be held between June 1 and 19.
England will also host the 50-over World Cup in 2019 from May 30 to June 15.
The 2017 Women’s World Cup will be held in England between August 4 and 27, the 2018 Women’s World Twenty20 will be organised in the West Indies between November 2 and 25.
10. Zomato acquires Turkey s restaurant search service Mekanist
Online restaurant search platform Zomato has acquired Turkey’s popular eatery search service Mekanist, said a company statement on Thursday.
Zomato’s restaurant coverage will increase from about 27,500 restaurants in Istanbul and Ankara to more than 50,000 restaurants across Turkey.
“Mekanist has established itself as one of the heavyweights in the online restaurant search and discovery space in Turkey. We are excited to be joining forces with them as we continue to grow in one of our important markets. Mekanist is one of the first and most successful tech startups to emerge from the Turkish startup ecosystem, and we are excited about them becoming a part of Zomato,” said Deepinder Goyal, founder and chief executive officer (CEO) of Zomato.
11. FDI into India surged 26% in 2014 despite financial risks: UNCTAD
Foreign direct investment inflows to India increased by about 26 per cent to $35 billion in 2014, despite macroeconomic uncertainties and financial risks, according to a United Nations report on global investments.
Global FDI inflows, however, declined by 8 per cent to $1.26 trillion due to fragility of the global economy, policy uncertainty and geopolitical risks, the latest 'Global Investment Monitor’ report released by United Nations Conference on Trade and Development on Thursday said.
China became the largest recipient of FDI in the world in 2014 with inflows of $128 billion (3 per cent growth), which was nearly four times more than India.
The United States fell to the third largest host country with FDI inflows of $86 billion, which was almost a third of their 2013 level, the report said.
12. DBS Bank launches Tab banking
Singaporean lender DBS Bank, which focuses on leding to SMEs, today launched Tab banking for its customers in the segment which will ease and fasten the account opening process.
The new initiative named ‘AweSME Accounts’ will replicate the physical account opening form for SME accounts on the tablet.
“The initiative comes with in-built checks and balances that reviews the past data and ensures that the most frequent reasons for rejection are avoided, thus giving customers a smoother on-boarding experience,” bank’s head of small and medium enterprise, Amitabh Verma, told reporters here today.
The bank claims the initiative would help the SME customer open an account within four hours compared to the average industry time of 2-3 days.
To attract new customers, the bank has waived off the average quarterly balance charges for accounts under the new initiative for the first 12 months.
1. Subrahmanyam Jaishankar appointed as new Foreign Secretary
Union Government has appointed Subrahmanyam Jaishankar as the new Secretary of
Ministry of External Affairs (i.e. Foreign Secretary).
His name was cleared by Appointments Committee of the Cabinet (ACC) chaired by Prime Minister Narendra Modi.
He will be replacing incumbent Foreign Secretary Sujatha Singh whose tenure was curtailed with immediate effect. She had assumed office in August 2013 and was due to retire in August 2015.
2. Union Government to sell up to 10% stake in Coal India Limited (CIL)
Union government has announced to sell up to 10 per cent stake in state owned Coal India Limited (CIL) on 30 January 2015.
This decision was cleared by high-powered ministerial panel headed by Finance Minister Arun Jaitley.
It will help the government to raise revenue of 24,000 crore rupees at the current market price and meet the fiscal deficit.
Government is planning to divest 5 per cent stake in the company via share sale and the remaining 5 per cent through the green-shoe option.
Currently, the government holds 89.65 per cent stake in CIL. As per the minimum shareholding norms for listed companies, the government needs to lower its stake to 75 percent.
3.Kalyan Singh sworn in as Himachal Pradesh Governor
Rajasthan Governor Kalyan Singh has sworn in as the 26th Governor of Himachal Pradesh.
He was administered oath of office by Himachal Pradesh High Court Chief Justice Mansoor Ahmed Mir at oath taking ceremony held at Raj Bhawan in Shimla.
He was given an additional charge of Himachal Pradesh after then governor Urmila Singh, completed the full five year term on January 24.
4. Maharashtra government issues Letter of Intent to buy B R Ambedkar’s London house
Maharashtra government has issued Letter of Intent (LoI) to buy Dr Bhimrao Ramji Ambedkar’s London house to the Indian High Commission in United Kingdom(UK).
This is the house where architect of the Indian Constitution Ambedkar had lived in 1920 during his stint with the London School of Economics.
State government is buying this 2050 square feet three-storey house on 10, King Henry Road, NW3 of London and has finalised at a sum of 35 crore rupees.
This house is of cultural and national importance and pride of millions of people of India as Dr. Ambedkar had stayed in it when he was completing higher studies at the London School of Economics in 1920-21.
State government after buying the house will convert it into a memorial-cum-museum and open it to public from 14 April, 2015 i.e. on the 124 birth anniversary of the architect of the Indian constitution.
5. Nation pays tributes to Lala Lajpat Rai on his 150th birth anniversary
On 28 January 2015, nation paid tributes to national martyr of freedom movement, Lala Lajpat Rai on his 150th birth anniversary.
Events marking this day: Various seminars and symposia were organised at many places in Punjab to remember Lala Lajpat Rai. Special programme and sports meet was organised in his ancestral village Dhudi ke of Moga district where thousands of people paid their tributes to national martyr at the memorial. While, intellectual’s apprised young generation about Lala and his sacrifice for the nation.
6. US tech giant Apple reports largest quarterly profit in history
US technology giant Apple, has reported the biggest quarterly profit of 18 billion US dollar.
It is the biggest quarterly profit ever made by any public company in World and broke the previous record of ExxonMobil which had earlier topped by making $15.9 billion profit in 2012.
Apple’s revenue had grown to $74.6 billion in 2014 from $57.6 billion in 2013 i.e. reporting 30% increase in profit.
The main reason for Apple’s profit is record sale of iPhones. The company has sold 74.5 million iPhones in quarter ending December 2014 with 39.9% profit per product.
Apple’s impressive profit comes after it shifted towards the massive untapped potential of Chinese market and partnering with China Mobile Limited the largest global mobile carrier.
Company sales in China had hit $16 billion in 2014- a 70% increase from 2013 and almost equalling the $17 billion in sales the company recorded in Europe 2013.
7. Hike Messenger introduces free voice calling service to its users
Hike Messenger, a home-grown chat application has introduced free voice-calling feature called Hike Calls to its users.
This feature will allow its users to call each other for free, over 2G, 3G and Wi-Fi and across the globe in over 200 countries.
Hike Messenger has introduced this service, after it had acquired free calling application company – Zip Phone earlier in January 2015.
This feature has been launched in beta on Android operating system, which contributes to over 90 percent of Hike’s user base. While, the iOS and Windows versions will be released later.
About Hike Messenger
It was launched on 12th December 2012 and is a joint venture between Bharti Enterprises and Softbank.
User base: In August 2014, Hike had hit 35 million users.
8. Veteran Malayalam actor Mala Aravindan passes away
Veteran Malayalam actor Mala Aravindan has passed away in Coimbatore, Tamil Nadu. He was 76.
He was best known for his work as a comedian, character artist in Malayalam films and was also noted theatre personality. He was also the president of the Association of Malayalam Movie Artists (AMMA).
9. India to host World T20 in 2016
India has been confirmed as host for the 2016 Twenty20 World Cup, scheduled to be held from March 11 to April 3, the ICC announced after ratifying its decision in the Board meeting in Dubai on Thursday.
Holding its first meeting of the year at the ICC headquarters, which was chaired by N Srinivasan and presided by Mustafa Kamal in the presence of all the full-member and associate representatives, the board took some major decisions issued quite a few directives to the cricket world.
The apex cricket body approved the dates for its main events through to 2019, following its Board meeting on Wednesday.
Though the tournaments were awarded to the countries in 2013, the dates were approved during this two-day meeting.
The board also approved the dates for the 2017 Champions Trophy in England which will be held between June 1 and 19.
England will also host the 50-over World Cup in 2019 from May 30 to June 15.
The 2017 Women’s World Cup will be held in England between August 4 and 27, the 2018 Women’s World Twenty20 will be organised in the West Indies between November 2 and 25.
10. Zomato acquires Turkey s restaurant search service Mekanist
Online restaurant search platform Zomato has acquired Turkey’s popular eatery search service Mekanist, said a company statement on Thursday.
Zomato’s restaurant coverage will increase from about 27,500 restaurants in Istanbul and Ankara to more than 50,000 restaurants across Turkey.
“Mekanist has established itself as one of the heavyweights in the online restaurant search and discovery space in Turkey. We are excited to be joining forces with them as we continue to grow in one of our important markets. Mekanist is one of the first and most successful tech startups to emerge from the Turkish startup ecosystem, and we are excited about them becoming a part of Zomato,” said Deepinder Goyal, founder and chief executive officer (CEO) of Zomato.
11. FDI into India surged 26% in 2014 despite financial risks: UNCTAD
Foreign direct investment inflows to India increased by about 26 per cent to $35 billion in 2014, despite macroeconomic uncertainties and financial risks, according to a United Nations report on global investments.
Global FDI inflows, however, declined by 8 per cent to $1.26 trillion due to fragility of the global economy, policy uncertainty and geopolitical risks, the latest 'Global Investment Monitor’ report released by United Nations Conference on Trade and Development on Thursday said.
China became the largest recipient of FDI in the world in 2014 with inflows of $128 billion (3 per cent growth), which was nearly four times more than India.
The United States fell to the third largest host country with FDI inflows of $86 billion, which was almost a third of their 2013 level, the report said.
12. DBS Bank launches Tab banking
Singaporean lender DBS Bank, which focuses on leding to SMEs, today launched Tab banking for its customers in the segment which will ease and fasten the account opening process.
The new initiative named ‘AweSME Accounts’ will replicate the physical account opening form for SME accounts on the tablet.
“The initiative comes with in-built checks and balances that reviews the past data and ensures that the most frequent reasons for rejection are avoided, thus giving customers a smoother on-boarding experience,” bank’s head of small and medium enterprise, Amitabh Verma, told reporters here today.
The bank claims the initiative would help the SME customer open an account within four hours compared to the average industry time of 2-3 days.
To attract new customers, the bank has waived off the average quarterly balance charges for accounts under the new initiative for the first 12 months.
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