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Mahatma Gandhi Honoured by UK With a Statue at Parliament Square A historic bronze statue of Father of the Nation Mahatma Gandhi was unveiled at the Parliament Square in London. It was unveiled jointly by British Prime Minister David Cameron and Union Finance Minister Arun Jaitley. The statue is placed adjacent to the statues of iconic leaders like Britain’s former Prime Minister Winston Churchill and anti-apartheid icon and former President of South Africa Nelson Mandela. Cyclone PAM hits Vanuatu […]

India allows more foreign ownership in insurance In a major economic policy reform, the Rajya Sabha passed the Insurance Law (Amendment) Bill, agreeing to increase the limit of foreign ownership in local insurance to 49% from the existing 26%. The Lok Sabha, on 4 March, approved the bill, which will become an Act when the President signs it. The legislation which was stuck in the pipeline for over 6 years will allow global insurers to enter the Indian market and own greater shares in insurance companies. Zebpay launches bitcoin mobile wallet in India […]

Maharashtra Launches ‘Bhagyashree’ Scheme for Girl Child Maharashtra government has launched Bhagyashree scheme for girls. The scheme replaces state government’s previous Sukanya scheme. Under the Sukanya scheme, the state government was to earmark an amount of Rs. 21,200 for each girl child born in a Below the Poverty Line (BPL) family. While the Bhagyashree scheme aims at providing one lakh rupees on maturity after the girl completes 18 years of age. Bollywood actress Bhagyashree is the brand ambassador of the scheme. The Simpsons Co-creator Sam Simon Dies at 59 […]

PM launches Indigenously-developed Rotavirus vaccine India’s indigenously developed and manufactured Rotavirus vaccine ‘Rotavac’ was launched today by Prime Minister Narendra Modi, a step that will help boost efforts to deal with diarrhoea that kills up to 80,000 children under 5 years of age every year. Rotavac vaccine was developed under the joint collaboration between India and the United States in the area of medical research. Pakistan successfully test-fires Shaheen-III ballistic missile […]

International Women’s Day observed on 8 March International Women’s Day was observed across the world on 8 March 2015. It is  an annual event that celebrates women’s accomplishments and promotes global gender equality. The theme for the year 2015 is” Make it Happen” and it encourages effective action for advancing and recognizing women. The first International Women’s Day was held in 1911 and is celebrated annually on 8 March with thousands of events across the world. In a first, mutual fund assets hit a record Rs 12 lakh crore […]

Walmart India appoints Ashwin Mittal as CFO Walmart India has appointed Ashwin Mittal as chief operating officer and Javier Rojo as real estate and business development head. Mittal  will replace incumbent CFO Jill Anderson as he will be soon repatriated back to Walmart in US. Ashwin Mittal is a qualified Chartered Accountant (CA) has rich work experience of 25 years in multinational companies, including Yum Restaurants and Silicon Graphics Cray.  NPCI links 15 crore bank accounts with Aadhaar number […]

Telecom spectrum auction gets bids worth Rs 77,000 crore on day 3 The telecom spectrum auction, with eight companies in the fray, received bids worth Rs 77,000 crore at the end of the 17th round on day three of the e-auction, the government said on Friday. […]

RBI Cuts Repo Rate by 25 Basis Points to 7.5 Percent The Reserve Bank of India (RBI) on 4 March 2015 has cut down repo rate by 25 basis points to 7.5 percent from 7.75 percent, with immediate effect. However, RBI has kept the cash reserve ratio (CRR) unchanged at 4 percent. This is the second time since January 2015 that RBI reduced the repo rate by 25 basis point . Repo Rate: the rate at which RBI lends money to banks for a short time CRR: Cash Reserve Ratio is a specified minimum fraction of the total deposits of customers, which commercial banks have to hold as reserves with the central bank. 1 basis point = 0.01% i.e. 25 basis point = 0.25%. Three South Asian women selected for International Women of Courage Award 2015 […]

Forbes magazine releases Global Billionaire’s 2015 annual list Forbes magazine on 3 March 2015 released Global Billionaire’s 2015 annual list. Bill Gates has been declared the richest man in the world for the 16th time. He’s worth $79.2 billion. There are a record 1,826 billionaires in the world, Forbes said, an increase of 181 in the past 12 months. The United States topped the list with 536 billionaires, followed by China (213), Germany (103), India (90) and Russia (88).  Top 5 billionaires: Bill Gates ($79 billion), Mr. Carlos Slim Helu ($77.1 billion), Mr. Warren Buffett ($72.7 billion), Mr. Amancio Ortega ($64.5 billion) and Mr. Larry Ellison ($54.3 billion). Among the 90 Indians on the Forbes Rich List 2015, published today, Mukesh Ambani (39th globally with worth of $21 billion.) is closely followed by pharmaceuticals business tycoon Dilip Shanghvi (44th rank with networth of $ 20 billion) and Azim Premji (48th with $ 19.1 [...]