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Daily Current Affairs – 25th February 2016, Thursday

1. Beijing becomes new billionaire capital of the World 

(i) Beijing became the new,’billionaire capital’ as the city recorded highest number of billionaires living in it for the first time, surpassing New York. 

(ii) A total of 100 billionaires are now living in Chinese capital compared with 95 in New York. The data was released by Hurun, in its annual Global Rich List for the past five years measuring billionaires’ wealth in US dollars. Hurun, tracks wealth in China. 

(iii) It further revealed that China has overtaken the US as the country with highest number of billionaires however the top 10 billionaires list is still dominated by Americans. 

2. French authorities recently sought €1.6billion of unpaid taxes from Google

(i) French Government authorities have  recently demanded that the tech giant Google, pay 1.6billion ($1.8bn; £1.3bn) of the unpaid taxes. 

(ii) This figure is a lot higher than the £130million tax the company agreed to pay UK authorities recently. 

(iii) Of late the tax arrangements of international companies have come under scanner and several have been accused of using legal methods to minimise their tax bills. 

3. China to start a fund for unemployed workers who lost jobs in massive industrial restructuring

(i) In a recent development, China is to establish a $15.3 billion fund to assist those workers who have lost jobs on account of a massive industrial restructuring undertaken by the government. 

(ii) The massive industrial restructuring was undertaken by the Chinese government in all sectors because of the economic slowdown. 

(iii) The fund is to have 100 billion Yuan ($15.3 billion) for two years and will cover training and job seeking for these workers.

4. IDBI receives SEBI’s nod to raise Rs 3771 crore

(i) IDBI Bank  recently received the approval of SEBI, the market regulator to raise Rs. 3771 crore from qualified investors.

(ii) The bank is to sell some of its non-core assets and is to place equity with the largest domestic investor, Life Insurance Corporation to raise capital. LIC in all likelihood invest close to Rs.1500 crore in the bank through preferential shares.

(iii) The Deputy Managing Director of the bank, B K Batra said, “IDBI Bank has capital raising plans of Rs 6000 crore for this fiscal year. So far we have received Rs 2229 crore form the government and rebalance Rs 3771 crore would be raised from qualified investor.”

5. FINO PayTech with Reliance commercial Finance to provide credit to rural poor in Maharastra and Madhya Pradesh

(i) The Payments technology company FINO PayTech tied up with Reliance Commercial Finance recently to provide credit to rural poor in the states of Maharastra and Madhya Pradesh. As per the statement by FINO PayTech, “FINO Fintech Foundation, an associate company of FINO, would source and service customers on behalf of Reliance Commercial Finance.” 

(ii) So far, pilot projects have been launched in Vidarbha region in Maharastra and Bhopal, Hardha, Khandwa, Vidisha, Khargone in Madhya Pradesh wherein loans are disbursed under joint Liability Group (JLG) model. 

(iii) Reliance Commercial Finance is expected to offer small loans to women borrowers for upto 24 months, to carry out revenue generating activities.

5. Vishal Sikka’s term as Infosys CEO extended 

(i) India’s second largest software exporter Infosys recently rewarded Vishal Sikka with an extended term of 2 years as the Chief Executive Officer, along with a bumper raise in annual salary. 

(ii) Sikka, was rewarded for having put India’s second largest software services firm back on the growth path. In a company’s statement, “The Company’s Nomination and Remuneration Committee (Committee) and Board recognised the outstanding initiatives taken by Dr Vishal Sikka towards restoring the company to Industry leadership, the results of which have already begun to show.” 

(iii) Sikka’s annual compensation now stands at $ 11 million, the break-down being $1 million in base salary, $3 million in variable pay, $2 million in restricted stock units, and another $5 million in stock options, which will be awarded on the basis of Infosys’s performance in a year.

6. Udai Kumar appointed MD and CEO of Metropolitan Stock Exchange of India

(i) In a recent appointment, after receiving the approval from the markets regulator SEBI, Metropolitan Stock Exchange of India appointed Udai Kumar as its Managing Director and Chief Executive Officer. 

(ii) Kumar, is to concentrate his efforts on repositioning of the exchange and differentiated products. In October last year, following the resignation of Saurabh Sarkar, Kumar had been appointed as the interim CEO and MD. Before joining, Kumar was the MD of Metropolitan Clearing Corporation of India Limited.

(iii) Kumar, has previously worked with JM Financial, JM Morgan Stanley, Centrum Capital and Fortune Financial.He has an experience in stock exchange administration, capital markets, fund raising, restructuring and mergers and acquisition functions.

7.  World’s first fast acting anti-rabies drug  set to be launched in India

(i) In a first, the fast acting anti-rabies drug is to be launched in India this year. 

(ii) The drug, ‘rabies human monoclonal antibody’ (RMAb) has been developed by Pune-based Serum Institute of India (SII) and US-based Mass Biologics of the University of Massachusetts Medical School. 

(iii) The drug in so far has been found safe and effective during various phases of human clinical trials spanning over nine years in India and abroad. 

(iv) The drug has been manufactured using the recombinant DNA technology. 

8.  Kanavu Variyam bags Remi Award 2016

(i) Arun Chidambaram’s the Director of Kanavu Variyam won the Remi Award at the 49th WorldFest Houston international, which is the oldest Independent Film & Video Festival in the World. 

(ii) The award will be presented from April 8 – 17, 2016. The World premier of the movie too, will be held at the world-fest. 

(iii) Apart from directing the movie and playing the lead, Arun has to his credit the record of writing the story, screenplay, dialogues and lyrics for Kanavu Variyam.

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