CURRENT AFFAIRS FOR 26TH OCTOBER 2015

CORPORATE AFFAIRS, E-COMMERCE, TECHNOLOGY AND CARS

1. Fairfax India Holdings Corporation has decided to restrict its voting rights in financial services firm IIFL holdings to 25 percent, even if it acquires more shares after open offer.
2. NITI Aayog Panel says that India's Business Environment is unfriendly to both corporate investment and innovation.
3. Handset Vendor Lava would invest Rs 500 Crores to set up manufacturing plant in Tirupati. It will also invest Rs 2,165 Crores in Noida and Tirupati units to generate capacity of 18 million devices per month by 2021.
4. Mumbai based Sunteck Realty plans to invest Rs 1000 Crores in the next two years for acquiring distressed assets and entering joint development agreements to increase its portfolio.
5. Air Costa, awaiting the Directorate-General of Civil Aviation's approval to fly pan-India, is in talks with various investors for raising funds.
6. Krypton valued at $400 million.
7. Google will take a minority stake in Beijing based artificial intelligence firm Mobvoi as a part of a $75 million fund raising round as the US search giant tries to rebuild its presence in China. The Google led series C fund raising values Mobvoi at $300 million.
8. Singapore based workforce planning analytics software start-up HRBoss has raised an investment round worth $2 million.
9. Mobile wallet company MobiKwik plans to raise $50-100 million in the next few months to fund its expansion across online and offline platforms.
10. SRS Cinemas will infuse Rs 45-60 Crores seed investments to set up new properties in the urban and semi-urban areas of South and East zones of the country with a special focus on tier 3 and tier 4 cities.
11. Government owned BSNL and MTNL have started discussion with private telecom companies to share spectrum.
12. Maserati North America Inc is recalling some of its 2014 Quattroporte GTS V8 sedans because of the potential for an engine compartment fire or stalling in the $141500 luxury sedans capable of speeds as much as 190 miles per hour.
13. Goldman Sachs expects Indian E-Commerce to reach $103 billion by FY20.
14. Online hotel aggregators Oyo Rooms is in talks to raise $400 million and Zo Rooms is in talks to raise $200 millions of funds.
15. Flipkart the country's largest online retailer and marketplace sold more than $200 million of worth mobile phones during 5 day Big Billion Day Sale with most consumers demanding 4G backed devices.
16. Jeweller Tribhovandas Bhimji Zaveri plans to increase its retail space from 93,000 sq.feet  to 150,000 sq.feet in two-three years through the franchisee route.
17. Volkswagen will freeze managerial promotions next year at its VW division as a part of savings drive to help meet more than 30 billion Euros of costs arising from the diesel emissions tests scandal.
18. 2 trillion public posts on facebook all of which are now searchable.
19. Nippon Life Insurance is set to acquire another 23% of Reliance Life Insurance for Rs2,500 Crores to increase its stake in the Joint Venture with Anil Ambani's Reliance Capital to 49%.
20. On demand shipping startup Parcelled has raised $ 50 million in its latest round of funding led by logistics company Delhivery.
21. Storied healthcare entrepreneur G S K Velu is starting a family office with an initial corpus of Rs 500 Crores for early stage and growth capital investments.
22. Amazon will open a diwali store on its US and UK websites this year.

    

ECONOMY, POLITICS, CRIMES, SPORTS, ENTERTAINMENT AND NEWS AROUND THE WORLD

1. China may cut its GDP growth target to 6.5% from 7% in its next 5 year plan from coming year.
2. The Andhra Pradesh government has reduced excise duty and value added tax on lower category liquor to make these affordable to the masses.
3. Railway Minister Suresh Prabhu called for a fight against corruption at the grass root level while flagging off a marathon in the city to sensitise people on the issue.
4. The Income Tax Department will roll out next weeks its 'pilot' project to conduct scrutiny assessment in an e-enviornment when they begin sending queries through e-mail to 500 select tax payers without calling them to offices.
5. October 28 and November 1 will see the third and fourth phase of the Bihar Assembly Elections.
6. Prime Minister Narendra Modi asks citizens to deposit gold in banks for nation's economic prosperity. The gold monetization scheme will be launched before Dhanteras.
7. The Khadi and Village Industries Commission and other Khadi promoting institutions have developed wheels with more spindles that can run on solar power.
8. Bengal Chief Minister Mamta Banerjee urged the people of Bihar to vote for Nitish Kumar.
9. PM Narendra Modi kept the I-Day promise by announcing that there will be no interviews for all Central Government posts belonging to the Group B, C and D categories from January 2016 to prevent middlemen from exploiting vacancies by guarantying them jobs in lieu of money.
10. The CBI has unearthed lapses on the part of IDBI bank officials who were instrumental in the sanctioning the Rs 950 Crores loan to Vijay Mallya's now defunct Kingfisher Airlines.
11. The Madras High Court has suggested castration of child sex offenders.
12. Gangster Ravi Pujari has allegedly issued death threats to two karnataka ministers  over murder of Bajrang Dal activist Prashant Poojary.
13. The Maharashtra Government has acquired a staggering 1.92 lakh hectares of land over 15 years. Irrigation projects accounted for 76% of the land while industry accounted for 14%.
14. The Council of Scientific and Industrial Research launched 'BGR-34', the first scientifically validated ayurvedic drug for management of type-II diabetes.
15. Forensic Reports have revealed four names in the suicide note of builder suresh parmar.
16. Many B-school aspirants get CAT centres outside Mumbai.
17. 25% student info on SARAL are yet to be verified.
18. Vartika Singh finished second runner up at the Miss Grand International 2015 Pageant held in Bangkok.
19. To put an end to rising cases of non-performing assets in banks and loans to undeserving entities, the government has now made it mandatory for all financial institutions to obtain an affidavit from auditors who sign balance sheet of companies applying for advances.
20. Pakistani Novelist Kanza Javed, denied Visa to take part in the Kumaon Lit Fest, launched her novel ' Ashes, Wine and Dust ' over Skype from her home in Lahore.
21. The Reserve Bank of India has turned down the proposal from government to allow upto 100% FDI in banks.

     

CURRENT AFFAIRS FOR 25TH OCTOBER 2015

POLITICS, ECONOMY, SPORTS, ENTERTAINMENT, CRIMES AND NEWS AROUND THE WORLD

1. The Indian Air Force is all set to train woman fighter pilots by June 2017 after the government approved their induction in combat roles.
2. Thane police have denied permission to MIM leader Akbarrudin Owaisi to hold a rally in Kalyan for the forthcoming KDMC elections.
3. The Air Intelligence Unit of Customs seized around 1 kg gold worth Rs 23.17 Lakh concealed in cardpaper at the International Airport in Mumbai.
4. Prime Minister Narendra Modi will inaugurate a memorial at Dr Babasaheb Ambedkar's London House during UK visit in November.
5. Security Arrangements have been beefed up at the Navi Mumbai Muncipal Corporation headquarters and also at railway stations here after an anonymous letter threatening to blow up NMMC, konkan Bhavan and railway stations.
6. A member of Sutlej Club at Ludhiana misbehaved with Bollywood Singer Alka Yagnik when she was at Ludhiana for performance.
7. In a big relief to Indian nurses working in Britain, the Cameron government has included nursing as a profession in 'shortage occupation' list. Around 30,000 overseas nurses who faced the axe under new immigration rules, including thousands from India, would not be made to leave India.
8. Chinese Actress, singer and model Angela Yeung known as the 'Kim Kardashian' of China, got hitched recently to actor Huang Xiaoming in a lavish ceremony that cost $31 million.   
9. A french man stands accused of forcing his wife to have sex with more than 2,700 man to make thousands of pounds a month.
10. Bihar CM Nitish Kumar questioned the "silence" of PM Narendra Modi over the killing of two dalit children in haryana. 
11. Roman Catholics have agreed to a qualified opening towards divorcees who have remarried outside the church but rejected calls for more welcoming language towards homosexuals. Vatican city opens up to divorcees, but gays still not welcomed.
12. Vice-President Ahmed Adeeb has been arrested for his alleged involvement in alleged assassination bid on President Abdulla Yammen. 

CURRENT AFFAIRS FOR 24TH OCTOBER 2015

CORPORATE AFFAIRS, E-COMMERCE AND TECHNOLOGY

1. Amazon Inc India's Business has quadrupled in 2015 over the previous year as customers and sellers have risen more than threefold.
2. The Apple watch will launch in India on November 6. The premium end wearable is expected to cost over Rs 30,000.
3. Asian Paints reported a consolidated net profit at Rs 399 Crores for second quarter ended September 30.
4. Telecommunications tower Bharti Infratel's Net Profit for the quarter ended September grew by 25% from year ago period.
5. Honda Cars India announced recall of 3,879 units of CVT variants of Honda City manufactured from February 2014 to November 2014.
6. Japanese auto major Toyota is evaluating if vehicles need to be recalled in India as part of the company's global recall of 65 Lakh cars to fix potentially defective power window switches.
7. Ericsson, the world's largest telecom gear maker, said India was its fastest growing market in the quarter to September and among the top five in terms of sales.
8. Textile Conglomerate Arvind's plan to go full throttle with premium fabric brand Tresca has hit a roadblock with over 7,000 workers employed at its facility near Ahemdabad going on strike demanding wage revision.
9. A Vellayan back as and chairman of Murugappa Group.
10. Amazon Founder Jeff Bezos has become the third richest american and the fifth richest in the world with his net worth crossing $55 million.
11. Twitter Chief Executive Officer Jack Dorsey is giving a third of his twitter stock to company employees.
12. Ratan Tata and American Express has invested in Silicon Valley based digital currency startup, Abra.
13. Aruna Jayanthi CEO of Capgemini India has been elevated as the Global BPO head of the 11 billion Euro Company. Besides this Former I gate HR head Srinivas Kandula has replaced Jayanthi and will be the Capgemini India's CEO.

     

POLITICS, ECONOMY, CRIMES, SPORTS, ENTERTAINMENT AND NEWS AROUND THE WORLD

1. Bollywood Singer Adnan Sami may soon get Indian Citizenship soon.
2. Income of trust from yoga related activities will now not be subject to service tax.
3. The Bombay High Court directed BMC to remove all hawkers who have set up stalls on roads and foothpaths after May 1,2014.
4. 10 Marathi writers return awards along with the cash prize cheques to the chief ministers office.
5. Muncipal Commissioner Ajoy Mehta has ordered an inquiry into the roadworks worth Rs 2000 Crores which were carried out prior to the monsoon.'
6. India will launch a nearly 400 kg 'spy' satellite for Singapore on December 16 using a version of the polar satellite launch vehicle.
7. Pakistani Author Kanza Javed scheduled to launch her debut novel at ongoing Kumaon literary festival on Sunday, has been denied Visa at the last minute.
8. 30,000 Bhojpur Voters likely to press NOTA.

  

CURRENT AFFAIRS FOR 23RD OCTOBER 2015

CORPORATE AFFAIRS, E-COMMERCE AND TECHNOLOGY

1. For the quater ended for 156 companies the net profit rose to 3.9% year on year despite a 9.5% fall in net sales.
2. Sony Music Entertainment eyes 25% market share and is planning to enter the pop business and child-related content in a big way.
3. Zydus Cadilla net profit up 41% at Rs 391 crore for the quarter ended September 30.
4. Gamesa India has signed a 100 Megawatt power project order with Hero Future Energies.
5. About 75% OF 3,450 live real estate projects with investments of Rs 14 Lakh Crores remained non-starters of 2014-15.
6. LIC has initiated talks with public sector banks to sell the 35% stake held by Nomura, in its mutual fund arm.
7. Bharat Diamond Bourse has banned trading of synthetic diamonds on its premises.
8. Mumbai Metro One Pvt Ltd an arm of Reliance Infrastructure has said there won't be any change in the discounted fares for travel along the 11.4Km metro rail Versova-Andheri-Ghatkopar corridor till November 30.
9. Honkong listed women's footwear retailer C.Banner International Holdings will buy 255 year old British Toy Shop for around $154.32 million.
10. Apple Inc will build an additional 200 megawatts of Solar power in China and push suppliers to make similar commitments, as the maker of I-pad and Apple Watch seeks to offset its global emissions in the world's most polluting country.
11. Hyundai Motor said its net profit fell by 23% in third quarter from a year earlier.
12. Housing Finance company DHFL has roped in Shahrukh Khan as its brand ambassador.
13. Singapore's sovereign wealth fund GIC has picked up 50% in US firm Tishman Speyer's Waverock office project in Hyderabad.
14. Keedara Capital is close to picking up 20% stake in ZCL chemicals formerly known as Zandu Chemicals for Rs 180 Crores.
15. Technologies developed in India but having their patents registered in tax havens may come under the domestic tax net from next fiscal year.
16. Reboot Systems India, a refurbisher of desktop computers, laptops and smartphones is in talks to raise $15-25 million in early stage funding as PE interest in the business rises.
17. 32.6 million expected global shipments of HDR TV sets in 2019.
18. Strides Arcolabs, an Indian Drugmaker has expanded its portfolio of offerings by acquiring brands from two companies in separate transactions. Strides signed a deal to buy seven of Johnson and Johnson brands.In a separate transaction it will acquire a majority stake in domestic branded businesses of Medispan.
19. Airline losses to come down 35% to Rs 5,500 Crores this fiscal year.
20. NRI businessman GP Hinduja and his brother SP Hinduja have been judged the most influential Asians in Britains.
21. Coca-Cola Posts 4% volume growth in July-September 2015 quarter.

  

POLITICS, ECONOMY, SPORTS, ENTERTAINMENT, CRIMES AND NEWS AROUND THE WORLD

1. Shiv Sena attacks BJP but rules out Break-up on issues such as ties with Pakistan, consumption of beef and inflation.
2. Rural inflation which is 6.5% is higher than urban inflation which is 4.5% according to HSBC.
3. Japan has offered to finance India's first bullet train, estimated to cost at an interest rate of less than a percent. 
4. Services provided towards the basic accounts opened under Pradhan Mantri Jan Dhan Yojana will be exempted from service tax.
5. India defeat South Africa in ODI series now tied at 2-2 with one to play.
6. Central Government gives away 2 crore LED bulbs and saves Rs 1000 Crores a year.
7. Actor Sanjay Dutt has bought a franchise in the UAE based Master Champions League for retired International Cricketers to begin next year.
8. 2015 likely to be the hottest year ever recorded.
9. Bollywood Singer Labh Janjua found dead in Goregaon flat.
10. Maharashtra Government has frozen irrigation projects worth Rs 500 Crores.
11. The Maharashtra State Government has disbursed the first installment of Rs 22 Lakhs meant to be disbursed to unaided, non-minority schools in Mumbai region for admitting students to the 25% seats reserved under Right to Education Act,2009.
12.  PM Modi lays the foundation stone ceremony of New Capital of Andhra Pradesh which is Amravati.

CURRENT AFFAIRS FOR 22ND OCTOBER 2015

CORPORATE AFFAIRS, E-COMMERCE AND TECHNOLOGY

1. Samsung Electronics is likely to lay off almost 5% of its staff in India. It sacked some 90 employees last week and another 125-150 employees will be asked to leave after Diwali.
2. HDFC Bank has posted a 20% increase in its Net Profit for the quarter ended september at Rs 2,869 Crores.
3. American's Tower Corp will buy a 51% stake in India's Viom Networks in the largest inbound acquisition for Rs 7,635 Crores in cash besides taking on debt, valuing Viom at around Rs 21,000 Crores.
4. Online Fashion retailer Myntra aims to achieve $5 billion in gross merchandise sales volume by 2018-2020 from about $500 million in GMV now and wants to push more private labels.
5. Toyota Recalls 6.5 million vehicles worldwide over a power window glitch that presented a fire risk.
6. Sony launched two new premium range smartphones Xperia Z5 and Xperia Z5 Premium which are priced at Rs 52,990 and Rs 62,990 respectively to compete with Apple and Samsung who have recently launched new premium ranged smartphones in the market.
7. Schneider Electric India is planning to hire 40% women recruits across all levels in an attempt to achieve gender parity.
8. FMCG firm Marico has appointed Sanjay Mishra as the Compnay's Chief Operating Officer for India Sales and Bangladesh.
9. Mobile wallet company Mobikwik expects GMV to touch Rs 700-800 Crores over the next 12 months with half of it coming from offline channels.
10. Italian Car Maker Fiat Chrysler India has launched high performance variant of Punto and Avventura under its brand Abarth priced at Rs 9.95 Lakh.
11. Austrian Crystal Maker Swarovski will now be able to run fully owned stores in India and is planning to invest Rs 75 Crores to expand it store count in India.
12. Idea Cellular reported a 7% rise in consolidated net profit .
13. 100 million monthly active users of Google Photos, 5 months after service was launched.
14. Wipro Quarter 2 Profit up by 7%.
15. Jindal Steel Works Quarter 2 Profit Plunges 84% to Rs 117 Crores.
16. Real Estate Developer The Wadhwa Group has leased space to Navnit Motors for opening Italian luxury sports cars brand Ferrari's first showroom in Mumbai by the end of this month.
17. The Rajasthan Government has rejected the Cairn India's plea to renew the contract for profilic Rajasthan Block with the existing terms and conditions
18. Yahoo has signed a search advertising deal with Google Inc .
19. Bajaj Auto Net Profit rises 58% on higher export realisation with profit at Rs 933 Crores.
20. AkzoNobel India reported a 14.6% increase in its Net Profit at Rs 40.9 Crores.
21. Tata Coffee reported a 15% decline in its consolidated net profit at Rs 27.5 Crores.
22. Indiabulls Real Estate reported a two fold increase in consolidated net profit at Rs 75.01 Crores.
23. NIIT consolidated net profit has more than doubled to Rs 20.8 Crores for the september quarter.
24. BlueDart Express reported a 74% increase in its standalone net profit at Rs 53.7 Crores for the quarter ended September 30.
25. Cairn India reported a 70% decline in net profit at Rs 673 Crores.
26. Ranbaxy CEO Arun Sawhney will retire from the company that is now part of Sun Pharma on October 31.
27. Reliance Capital Asset Management will acquire Goldman Sachs Indian Mutual Fund Business for Rs 243 Crores.
28. Maruti Suzuki has hiked wages of temporary workers of its Gurgaon and Manesar Plants including those of Suzuki Powertrain by an average 10% a month.
29. Indus Towers, the world's largest telecom tower promoted Chief Operating Officer Bimal Dayal as CEO-designate with immediate effect.
30. Indiabulls Housing Finance Net Profit rises 24% in Quarter 2.
31. Hard Disk Driver Maker Western Digital would buy Memory Chip Maker SanDisk Corp for about $19 billion.
32. Private Companies announced new projects worth about Rs 2,25,000 Crores in the July-September period.

POLITICS, ECONOMY, CRIMES, SPORTS, ENTERTAINMENT AND NEWS AROUND THE WORLD

1. The Union defence Ministry has blocked the transaction of Lincoln House, the two-acre palace property at Breach Candy purchased by industrialist Cyrus Poonawalla from US government for Rs 750 Crores last month.
2. Pakistan may become 5th largest nuclear power by 2025.
3. Dengue cases see 11% drop in 1 week.
4. A UP court has slapped sedition charge on Finance Minister Arun Jaitley for criticizing NJAC verdict.
5. 36,000 tonnes of pulses seized from hoarders.
6. CM Manohar Lal Khattar  orders CBI probe into burning alive of dalit family in Faridabad by upper caste perpetrators which lefttwo toddlers dead.
7. Union Home Minister Rajnath Singh has slammed politics in the name of religion and said nobody should be discriminated against based on faith, caste or creed.
8. China signs $ 6 billion nuclear power deal with Britain.
9. Indian students 3rd in generating London's revenue.

CURRENT AFFAIRS FOR 21ST OCTOBER 2015

CORPORATE AFFAIRS, E-COMMERCE, CARS AND TECHNOLOGY

1. Swedish contract drug manufacturer Recipharm has acquired a 74% equity stake in Nitin LifeSciences, a privately held sterile injectables manufacturing firm for Rs 671 Crores.
2. Reliance Communications, Aircel and Sistema have begun initial talks for a three way merger that could see the emergence of India's third largest Teleco by subscribers.
3. Online Real Estate portal Housing.com is set to raise Rs 220 Crores in a fresh round of funding from Japan's Soft Bank.
4. Snapdeal has appointed Anup Vikal as its new CFO.
5. Flipkart has appointed Samardeep Subandh as its new Chief Marketing Officer.
6. FreshDesk has appointed Nishant Rao as its Chief Operating Officer.
7. Digital Advertising Network Fork Media has acquired WiFi Advertising network Spid Info Media for an undisclosed sum ( $3 million to $5 million).
8. Intex expects to garner upto Rs 1,200 Crores in revenue from Sale of 4G smartphones.
9. Chinese Handset Vendor Lenovo will launch three smartphones exclusively for the offline retail channel during the festive season as the company seeks to improve its presence in India's high growth market.
10. Parsvnath Developers has cleared a debt of Rs 60 Crores to Essel Finance through redemption of non-convertible debentures.
11. Infosys, India's Second Largest software services firm and Chinese ICT solution provider, Huawei have partnered to launch a smart stadium solution. 
12. Taxi aggregator Meru Cabs has forged a global alliance with Europe's Taxi Service , Taxis G7 , to launch eCab in India.
13. Bharti Airtel has raked in over Rs 11,200 Crores by selling about 8,300 towers in seven african countries.
14. Cement Maker ACC reported a drop of 40% in its consolidated net profit at Rs 115.21 Crores for the quarter ended September 30.
15. Bayer Crop Science reported a drop of 15% decline in its net profit at Rs 150 Crores.
16. Adani Transmission reported consolidated net profit of Rs 152.90 Crores.
17. Videocon D2H loss has narrowed to Rs 24.58 Crores.
18. Sanofi India has reported 16.93% rise in its standalone net profit to Rs 72.5 Crores.
19. Dewan Housing Finance Corporation reported a 18.5% rise in net profit at Rs 180.4 Crores.
20. Zee Media Corporation reported a net loss of Rs 17 Crores for the quarter ended September 30.
21. Hero Moto Corporation Net Profit up by 1.1% at Rs 772 Crores.
22. HCL Technologies will absorb 2,600 employees of Volvo Group as a part of a deal to handle the Swedish Automaker's IT infrastructure operations and buy its external IT business.
23. Tata Steel,the biggest steel maker in Britain, may cut about 1,200 jobs as a part of plans to restructure its struggling operations.
24. Tata Housing is in advanced talks with a few institutional investors to raise Rs 3,200 Crores for its upcoming premium and luxury residential projects across top 5 indian cities.
25. Investors Clinic, India's largest online real estate transactions and services platform, is in talks with large private equity funds and foreign banks to raise about Rs 975 Crores.
26. Motilal Oswal Real Estate is looking to raise up to Rs 1000 Crores through its third real estate fund.
27. Mahindra and Mahindra launched an intra-city logistics aggregator platform called SmartShift, which will act as an exchange platform for cargo owners and transporters.
28. Fragrance Maker SH Kelkar has fixed the price band of its Rs 500 Crore initial public offering at Rs 173-180 per share.
29. Japanese financial services major Nomura intends to sell its stake in its mutual fund joint venture with Life Insurance Corporation.
30. Microsoft nominated Johnson & Johnson Sandra Peterson and Former Cisco systems executive Padmasree Warrior to its board.
     

POLITICS, ECONOMY, CRIMES, SPORTS, ENTERTAINMENT AND NEWS AROUND THE WORLD

1. Several states, including Maharashtra, Karnataka, Telengana and Andhra Pradesh have carried out raids on pulses traders as the Centre is pushing them to take measures to tame retail prices.
2. The Central Board of Direct Taxes has initiated a pilot project on paperless assessment using emails. E-hearing would be conducted in 100 cases as part of pilot.
3. PM Modi has declared November 26 as ' Samvidhan Divas' or 'Constitution Day' to celebrate the formal adoption of the constitution.
4. Doordarshan like last year is preparing to telecast RSS sarsangchalak's Dusshera address live on October 22.
5. Airlines flew 14.5% more passengers in September over the same month last year. The airline flew 6.67 million passengers in September 2015. IndiGo was leader by carrying 36.5% of the total passengers while Jet Airways was the second largest carrying 22% of the total passengers. Air India was third by carrying 15.9% while SpiceJet at 12.3% was fourth.
6. Facebook one of the best paymasters at engineering campuses is likely to give Indian Institute of Technologies a skip this year.
7. RBI has called for bids from the companies to build the Bharat Bill Payment System which will be a single window for all electronic payments related to utilities, schools and other essential things.
8. The Finance Ministry has said that the country would grow at 7.5% in the current fiscal.
9. India, the world's third largest producer of coal, imported 212.103 million tonnes of dry fuel worth over Rs 1 lakh crores in the last fiscal.
10. Employment in 8 sectors rose by 5.21 lakh last fiscal.
11. Bachchans to get Rs 50,000 each will be among the first beneficiaries of UP's new pension scheme for awardees of the Yash Bharti Samman.
12. Cricketer Amit Mishra assaults woman in Bengaluru hotel.
13. Railway Cash van transporting Rs 56 Lakhs was looted by a gang at gun point at Thane city near Nilje Railway Station.
14. NMAT registrations rise by 15%.
15. BEST workers union has threatened to go on three day strike from October 27 following the administration's decision to reject its demand for bonus.
16. Maharashtra State Government as sanctioned Rs 50 Lakh to repair the structure before the visit of PM Narendra Modi to inaugurate the Dr BR Ambedkar Memorial in London.
17. Enforcement Directorate attached investments worth Rs 70.17 Crores of the Indian Performing Rights Society (IPRS) after allegations of money laundering.
18. A 45 year old great grand daughter of Mahatma Gandhi has been accused of defrauding two businessmen over $830,000 in South Africa.
19. TOI Jayashree Nandi won the merit award for '"Sustained Enviornmental Reporting by a Journalist" at the fourth asian Enviornmental Journalism Awards.
20. The state governments have seized at least 5,800 tonnes of pulses in several raids on hoarders.
21. Cricketer Virender Sehwag quits International Cricket.

    

CURRENT AFFAIRS FOR 20TH OCTOBER 2015

CORPORATE AFFAIRS, E-COMMERCE, CARS AND TECHNOLOGY

1. IndiGo cuts IPO size by Rs 200 Crore to Rs 3000 Crores. The promoters of the company will now sell about 23 million shares, against 26.1 million proposed for the IPO's offer-for-sale (OFS) component.
2. HCL Technologies reported a 7.9 % fall in Net Profit for September Quarter 3 at Rs 1726 Crores.
3. UltraTech Cement reported three percent growth in consolidated net profit for the quarter ended September at Rs 427 Crores, owing to increased sales and better operating margins.
4. Infosys would acquire US-based Noah Consulting for $70 million (Rs 454 Crores) in an all cash deal.
5. Hindustan Zinc's Net Profit up by 5% at Rs 2,285 Crores for the September quarter.
6. Fertilizer Firm Mangalore Chemical And Fertilizers Ltd appointed Arun Duggal as Chairman.
7. Maruti Suzuki, India's largest car maker announced the introduction of Ciaz RS, a new variant of its popular mid-size sedan at Rs 9,20,000.
8. Taxi hailing service Ola has crossed the 25 million unique customer milestone and claims to have served 150 million bookings on its platform till date.
9. Petronet LNG Net Profit down by 5.3% at Rs 248 Crores.
10. Snapdeal has shipped six million orders as part of its diwali sales.
11. Mangalore Chemicals and Fertilizers Ltd reported a net loss of Rs 19.4 Crores.
12. The Board of Indian Hotel Company, the country's biggest hotel chain, approved the amalgamation of two of its wholly owned subsidiaries into itself. 
13. Fiat Chrysler Automobiles India launched hatchback Abarth Punto at Rs 9.95 Lakh.
14. Wall Street Bank Morgan Stanley profits drops by 42%.
15. Chipmaker Microsemi Corp offered to buy PMC-Sierra Inc for about $2.2 billion, trumping a $2 billion offer from SkyWorks Solutions Inc.
16. John Cryan, Co-Chief Executive Officer at Detusche Bank is splitting the investment bank as he prepares to scale back the trading empire built by his predecessor.
17. Italian Chocolate Maker Ferrero Rocher to invest Rs 367 Crores in India.
18. Ola eyes 3 million daily bookings by April next year.
19. Attune Technologies a Chennai- Based software product firm, has raised Rs 64 Crores in a funding round that was led by Qualcomm Ventures India and existing investor Norwest Venture Partners.
20. Xiaomi has unveiled a self-balancing scooter called Ninebot Mini.
21. 468 million phones sold by Nokia in its peak in 2008.
22. AgentDesks, a mobile first CRM for real estate agents, has announced that it has raised $2.95 million from Sierra Ventures, Cota Capital and Vegas Tech Fund among others in a seed round.
23. Hyperlocal Delivery startup Opinio has raised Rs 45 Crores in a funding round led by logistics company Delhivery with the participation of Sands Capital Ventures and existing investor Accel Partners.
24. Private equity firm Carlyle, Kedaara Capital and Multiples Alternatives are among a clutch of firms negotiating with South African Drugmaker Adcock Ingram for acquiring its loss-making India unit, Cosme Farma.
25. Apollo Health and Lifestyle, a subsidiary of Apollo Hospitals, has hired investment bank Spark Capital to manage divestment of 25% stake to private equity funds as it seeks to raise Rs 500 Crores to fund expansion.
26. Private Equity Firm India Value Fund Advisors will invest between $100 million and $150 million (Rs 640- Rs 970 Crore) in food business over the next two years.
27. White Owl Brewery has raised Rs 10 Crores from Angel Investors.
28. Alibaba founder Jack Ma, has been appointed by British Prime Minister David Cameron to advise him on business.
29. Real Estate aggregator platform Square Yards has acquired Oryden Tech Labs, a creative design studio based out of Ahemdabad for an undisclosed amount.
30. Jacqueline Reses a Chief Development Officer at Yahoo is resigning to join Jack Dorsey's Square.
31. International rating agency Standard & Poor's has retained India's sovereign rating at 'BBB' with stable outlook on the back of improved policy stability and predictability but ruled out an upgrade.

  

POLITICS, CRIMES, ECONOMY, SPORTS, ENTERTAINMENT AND NEWS AROUND THE WORLD

1. China's growth slows to 6.9% in September quarter compared to the year ago period.
2. Gujarat and Karnataka lifted a ban on Nestle's India's Maggi Noodles. Karnataka's move will allow Nestle India to manufacture the product at its plant in the state.
3. Central Government raised the import duty on wheat to 25%.
4. Nepalese Deputy PM Kamal Thapa met PM Modi in an effort to overcome the hiccups in bilateral ties.
5. Delhi's Aam Aadmi Party government is planning to push its mobile app      'Poocho' as an option to commuters looking for Taxis and Auto.
6. Sankritist SR Bhatt likely to head Indian Council of Philosophical Research.
7. The Election Commission has asked its officials to ensure deployment of central para-military forces at all polling stations in Bihar during the remaining phases of polls.
8. Public Sector lender Oriental Bank of Commerce will raise Rs 1000 crore through an issue of tier-II bonds on private placement basis.
9. ICC withdrew Pakistan Umpires Aleem Dar from officiating in the remaining two matches of the ongoing ODI between India and South Africa.
10. 5 former ministers who demitted office years ago have still not cleared their telephone bills worth Rs 4 Lakhs.
11. Out of 722 Navratri Mandaps 230 Mandaps were illegal.
12. Actor Vishal Thakkar held for sexual assault of TV actress.
13. Railway Minister Suresh Prabhu has ordered a review of all catering contracts and blacklisting of companies involved in unfair and corrupt practices.
14. Government to import 3,000 tonnes of pulses.
15. Former Indian Olympic Association President Ashwini Kumar who was honoured with Olympic Order in 2002 passes away.

CURRENT AFFAIRS FOR 19TH OCTOBER 2015

CORPORATE AFFAIRS, E-COMMERCE & TECHNOLOGY

1. New Delhi based auto component maker Amtek Auto is close to reaching a solution with JP Morgan which holds its non-convertible debentures wort Rs 200 Crores.
2. Piramal Fund Management is in talks with sovereign funds and global pension funds for 50:50 Joint Venture to provide equity capital to developers.
3. Apart from MNC subsidiaries, about 155 Indian firms are likely to qualify for country by country reporting.
4. Delhi based food booking platform TravelKhana connects railway travellers with restaurants.
5. Chennai based telecom service provider Aircel is betting highly on third-generation mobile services for the next level of growth as it expects to double its 3G user base in the next 1 year.
6. Cube 26 a startup that works with original equipment manufacturers to develop interactive user applications using human gestures has raised Rs 50 Crores in seed funding led by Tiger Global Management and Flipkart.
7. Housing.com has appointed Mani Rangarajan as Chief Financial Officer.
8. Adani Enterprises is expected to proceed with building its $7.2 billion Carmichael Coal Mine and Rail Project in Queensland State, Australia.
9. Lanco Infratech won a case in Supreme Court for its subsidiary company Lanco Kondapalli Power Limited (LKPL) as a result it is entitled for reimbursement of Income-Tax of about Rs 175 Crores for Financial year 2001 to 2012 along with interest till an date of payment adjusting the adhoc amount of Rs 70 Crores already received.
10. Wadia Group promoted budget carrier Go Air is planning an Initial Public Offer this financial year ahead of the scheduled delivery of 72 new AirBus A-320 planes starting April next year.
11. Diebold Inc has offered $1.78 billion to acquire Wincor Nixdorf AG potentially creating a manufacturer of cash machines and security systems with $6 billion in sales.
12. Chinese E-Commerce giant Alibaba group Holding Ltd is lobbying hard to stay off the US Trade Representative's blacklist after coming under renewed pressure this year over suspected counterfeits sold on its shopping platform.
13. Volkswagen offices searched after ex-CFO quits post at Porsche.
14. Infosys CoFounder Nadan Nilekani , SnapDeal's Kunal Bahl and host of other technology and startup heavy weights have co-invested in LetsVenture.
15.  Apple is in talks with Intel to manufacture chipsets for the next I-Phone. Intel reportedly already has a team of 1000 people working on chips for the next generation I-phone.
16. 1.3 Million Sq.feet Warehouse space used by snapdeal's sellers.
17. Messaging and Chat App LookUp has raised $2.5 million in series A Funding.
18. Reliance Brands has drawn up plans for expansion of global shoe brand Steve Madden in India.
19. Reliance will enroll 1,50,000 small and medium vendors for its e-commerce marketplace by the end of this fiscal that will take on the likes of Flipkart, Amazon and Snapdeal.
20. International Advertising firm Aegis Network has acquired majority stake in Fountain Head Entertainment , a Mumbai based entertainment, events and activation agency. The deal is in the range of Rs 300 to 400 Crores.
21. Religare Global Asset Management, part of Religare Enterprises is looking to mop up Rs 1000 Crores fund from domestic investors in India in a first ever education infrastructure fund raising initiative.
22. Suhas Sahakari has been appointed as the Managing Director of SVC Bank.
23. BS Canth has been appointed as the Director (Marketing) of Indian Oil Corporation Ltd.
24. Aditya Birla Group is planning to list its Mauritius based holding company for Carbon Black SKI Carbon Black (India) in overseas markets, making it the first such case.
25. Stephen Holmes,Chairman and CEO of Wynham Worldwide, the world's largest frachiser of hotel brands said that its group is going to add 42 hotels in India.
26. Kotak is Economic Times Business Leader of 2015.
27. Top Tier Investment fund Westbridge Capital has raised another $575 million (Rs 3,735 Crore) to back Indian Companies taking its assets under management to $ 2 billion, the fastest scale-up for any domestic focused fund.
28. Citrus Payment Solutions has closed a $25 million round of fund raising led by private equity Ascent Capital and early investor Sequoia.

POLITICS, ECONOMY, CRIMES, SPORTS, ENTERTAINMENT & NEWS AROUND THE WORLD

1. With Mining operations commencing in only seven of the 67 mines auctioned and allocated, the government has so far collected only Rs 133 Crores against the total bid revenue and royalties expected.
2. Beverage giant Pepsi has been replaced by Chinese mobile handset maker Vivo as title sponsor for the Indian Premier League T2O Season 2016 and 2017.
3.  IIM- Ahemdabad has been ranked 60 in The Economist 2015 ranking of full time MBA's, dropping 12 places from last year.
4. India's Media and Entertainment sector will be worth $100 billion by 2025 according to Boston Consulting Group (BCG) and Confederation Of Indian Industry (CII).
5. Greek lawmakers clear way for $2.3 billion in bailout funds.
6. A charitable institution is entitled to set apart 25% of the total income for charitable purposes even if it is not spent in the assessment year.
7. If a candidate in the merit list is not selected during a particular academic year due to the fault of the professional college or state authorities, the court may grant compensation to them.
8. US President Barack Obama has invited Pakistan Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif for a meeting at the White House on 22nd October 2015.
9. Patidar reservation agitation leader Hardik Patel intention's to disrupt the India-South Africa One Day International Cricket Match were foiled owing to tough resistance from the state administration.
10. A 105 feet high monumental flagpole bearing the tricolor was installed in the sprawling diplomatic enclave in New Delhi's Chanakyapuri area, becoming the second structure to dot the landscape of the capital.
11. Prime Minister Narendra Modi and President Pranab Mukherjee will next month launch a single window clearance mechanism backed by a Rs 1000 Crore kitty to get Indian Technical Institutions to conduct original research in areas where the country is heavily dependent on foreign technology. 
12. Ahead of government's vehicle safety norms set to kick in 2017, Maruti Suzuki India plans to introduce features like Airbags and anti-locking braking systems as an option in its mass marketing models. 
13. An Indian origin business school SP Jain Global Management has been to rated among the world's top 100 MBA institutions this year.
14. Oil and Natural Gas Corporation has sought premium gas pricing for an undeveloped deep sea block in the KG basin where it plans to invest $6 billion.
15. London's Big Ben to fall silent for months as it undergoes repairs upto 40 million.
16. Government Imposes stock limits on pulses to check prices.
17. BCCI to float tenders inviting bids for two new franchises for 2016 and 2017.  
18. CBSE has clarified that providing Aadhaar number will not be mandatory.
19. CBI has arrested two senior railway officials in the Rail Neer Scam.
20. Three times more women than men choose to take diksha. Male- 358 and Female-694 Total-1052 ( Till July 31 2015).
21. Pakistan's Intelligence Agencies have warned the government that Indian spy agency Research and Analysis Wing has tasked its agents to kill Pakistani PM Nawaz Sharif and Jammat-Ud-Dawa chief Hafiz Muhammad Saeed.
22. Directorate General of Central Excise intelligence arrested Gunvant Shah, director of Suraj Ltd for Rs 11.97 Crores Central Excise Duty Evasion.
23. Renowed Urdu Poet Munawwar Rana became the second litterateur from Uttar Pradesh to return Sahitya Akademi award.
24. India and Nasa will embark on an educational project called ' Spaceward BoundIndia 2016' that will see students hunt for microorganisms at an altitude of 3,500-5000 ft.
25. Researchers have invented a new 3-D printed swim suit capable of cleaning up oil spills and desalinising water while people swim.
26. A has former Uber driver in US who raped and kidnapped a woman in 2014 has been sentenced to upto 12 years in jail.
27. Nepal prepares to pick a New President next week.
28. Ex-General Naseer Khan Janjua to replace Sartaj Aziz as Pakistan's next National Security Advisor.

CURRENT AFFAIRS FOR 18TH OCTOBER 2015

CORPORATE AFFAIRS, TECHNOLOGY AND E-COMMERCE

1. US snacks and beverage major PepsiCo is finally on its way out as the title sponsor of the Indian Premier League, the world's richest T20 cricket league.
2. US federal court has asked Apple Inc to pay $234 million to University of Wisconsin for infringing a patent on microprocessor technology developed by varsity researchers.

POLITICS, ECONOMY, CRIMES, SPORTS, ENTERTAINMENT AND NEWS AROUND THE WORLD

1. The Maharashtra Government's street vendors draft policy intends to pave the way for night bazaars in the city.
2. Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis has said the Japan International Cooperation Agency is ready to fund the Mumbai- Trans-Harbour Link Sewri in the city to Nhava Sheva on the mainland at 1.75% rate of interest.
3. The Bombay High Court asked the State to make available to the public online the laws in Marathi by June 2016.
4. A MBA passout has decided not to accept his degree at the first convocation of Islamic University of Science and Technology in Kashmir from Union HRD minister Smriti Irani as a protest against "diminishing freedoms" in the country.
5. A retired Indian Forest Officer, Vijay Bahadur Shah, who was an observer in 12 Vyapam recruitments test , died under mysterious conditions in Odisha.
6. Kailash Satyarthi to receive Harvard Humanitarian Award who will be the first Indian.
7. Telugu writer k Katyayani aanounced she would return her Sahitya Akademi Award to protest against "diminishing constitutional protection" for freedom of choice.
8. To reduce fatalities, bikes and scooters will soon have an automatic headlamps on Feature similar to daytime running lamps in cars from April 2017.

   

CURRENT AFFAIRS FOR 17TH OCTOBER 2015

CORPORATE AFFAIRS, E-COMMERCE AND TECHNOLOGY

1. Interglobe aviation owner of the country's largest and most profitable airline, IndiGo, has set the price band of its IPO at Rs 700-765 a share. The sale could fetch us Rs 3,268 Crores, a valuation of Rs 25,700 Crores.
2. The Country's Telecom regulator TRAI fixes call drop compensation at Rs 1 upto three call drops per user, per day.
3. Facebook Founder Mark Zuckerberg hold a town hall question and answer session at the Indian Institute of Technology, Delhi, on October 28 to connect with Indians.
4. Tata Steel Europe, second largest producer in the region, would cut about 1,200 jobs across its UK division.
5. Reliance Industries saw a rise of 12.5% in consolidated net profit at Rs 6,720 Crore for the quarter ended September.
6. Mahindra and Mahindra unveils Supro Van an eight seater diesel passenger vehicle and the Supro Maxitruck a load carrier with a payload capacity of one tonne.
7. Former CFO of Infosys V Balakrishnan has joined the board of SAP consultancy firm KAAR technologies.
8. Apollo Tyres is mulling hiring a sales team to grow its business in United States.
9. Edelweiss Financial Services reported a consolidated net profit of Rs 95.7 Crores a rise by 21%.
10. Leo Puri, Managing Director of India's fifth largest fund house UTI Mutual Fund, has appointed the new chairman of Association of Mutual Funds in India (AMFI).
11. Aditya Birla Group launched a fashion focused e-commerce portal abof.com with the likes of Myntra and Jabong.
12. Crompton Greaves has sold 13 acres of land in Kanjur Marg area of Mumbai to Runwal Group for Rs 496.48 Crores.
13. Taxi aggregator OLA has hired Infosys outgoing Chief Financial Officer Rajiv Bansal as its New Finance Head.
14. Ecuador plans to cancel its deal with Hindustan Aeronautics after four of the seven advanced light helicopters it had supplied crashed.
15. Venture Capital Investments surged to an all All Time High to $1.44 billion by of 323 deals in nine months of the year.
16. Cafe Coffee Day's IPO subscribed 1.8 times.
17. Delhi based online holiday destination discovery platform Holidify has raised Rs 65 Lakh in an angel funding round led by Aarti Industries, a chemical company.
18. NIIT Technologies reported  70.3% jump in net profit at Rs 68.2 Crore for the quarter ended on September 30.
19. Vedanta Group signed in an early agreement to invest Rs 8,400 Crore to expand and develop its mineral and mining base in Rajasthan.
20. 90 year old company set up in a garage in a mumbai suburb is going listing with Rs 500 Crores maiden IPO. The name of the company is S H Kelkar.

 

POLITICS, ECONOMY, CRIMES, SPORTS, ENTERTAINMENT AND NEWS AROUND THE WORLD

1. Foreign Exchange Reserves rose $2.22 billion to $329.52 billion.
2. Foreign Institutional Investors sold equity shares worth nearly Rs 5000 Crores in public sector undertakings
3. Central Bureau of Investigation has registered a case of cheating against AC Muthiah and Farouk Irani , Former Chairman and Managing Director, respectively , of First Leasing Company along with others upon a complaint by IDBI Bank.
4. NABARD has facilitated around 9.7 crore poor families in the country to get financially included through its self help group or SHG-Bank Linkage programme and has covered 74 Lakh SHGs.
5.  Advertising Veteran Prasoon Joshi likely to script Maggi's Relaunch campaign.   
6. Drug Firm Unichem Laboratories has received approval from the US health regulator for its Losartan Potassium tablets used in treatment of Hypertension.
7. The Narendra Modi led government is making a fresh attempt at pushing labour reforms, starting with a 'complete makeover' of the 1948 Factories Act to bring it in sync with the government's plan to boost manufacturing and job creation.
8. Maharashtra has declared 14,708 of the state's 43,000 villages drought hit which means it has affected 34% of the state.
9. The Mumbai City experienced temperatures up to 38 degree celsius which was the hottest in the recorded history.
10. State Government wants CBSE, ICSE & IB schools to teach Marathi in Standard I-VIII and Maharashtra's history and geography up to Class V.
11. Taj Mahal Palace Hotel which pioneered the concept of fine dining in Mumbai with Zodiac Grill will roll down the shutters by the month end.
12. Lawyer Harish Salve gets threat calls from fugitive gangster Ravi Pujari.
13. Actor Ravi Kissan's daughter goes missing.
14. Supreme Court may set 5 hour limit for bursting crackers this diwali.
15. 55% polling was recorded in the second phase of Bihar elections.
16. The National Security Guard whose commandos are popularly known as ' Black Cats' will soon induct women in its fleet.
17. Winter this year is expected to be mild over most parts of the country. 
18. CBI busts bottled water scam in railways seizes Rs 27 crores.
19. Delhi government has issued a notification for ban on cooking on roadside.
20. The Supreme Court dismissed a petition seeking initiation of criminal proceedings against PM Narendra Modi for not disclosing information about his marital status during 2012 assembly polls.
21. Flipkarts billionaire founders Sachin Bansal and Binny bansal spent most of the time delivering products to the home of customers who had ordered from their portal during the on-going festive season Big Billion Days Sale.

 

CURRENT AFFAIRS FOR 16TH OCTOBER 2015

CORPORATE AFFAIRS, E-COMMERCE AND TECHNOLOGY

1. TRAI has said that telecom users will be compensated Rs 1 for every call drop. Telecom operators will however compensate only three call drops per user, per day.
2. The Australian Enviornment Ministry cleared the way for Adani Groups $ 7 billion Carmichael Mine and Rail project in Queensland province.
3. The country's merchandise exports fell for a 10th consecutive month in September. Exports contracted 24.3 percent , the steepest in 75 months, $21.84 billion in September, against $ 28.86 billion in September 2014.
4. Aircel to offer free basic internet to push mobile internet usage. The company under its Free Basic Internet Programme, is offering service with download speed of 64 kilobytes per second.
5. TVS motors has roped in Amitabh Bachchan as its Brand Ambassador.
6. Luxury Car Maker BMW launched its M-Range of Cars.
7. Hewlett Packard (HP), the country's largest computer and printer manufacturer, is transforming its product portfolio to increase its market share and beat competition.
8. Capital Local Area Bank, a Jalandhar based entity which got a license for a small finance company, plans to make a public offer of equity in 2017.
9. HSBC holdings Plc will cut the pay of hundreds of part time contractors as its investment banking aim in London by 10% and ask them to take two weeks of unpaid leave.
10. The Construction Industry Development Board of Malaysia has proposed to invest $ 30 billion in urban development and housing projects in India.
11. Chinese E-commerce giant Alibaba has received CCI's approval for buying 4.14% stake in snapdeal.
12. Cafe Coffee Day IPO subscribed 75% a day before its close.
13. Amazon expects India to overtake Japan, Germany and the UK to become its largest overseas market besides becoming the quickest to reach $10 billion in Gross Merchandise Value. 
14. Contract Advertising has bagged the account of Sandeep Goyal's Tango Media.
15. Advertising Agency Lowe Lintas Bengaluru has bagged the creative account of two wheeler auto firm TVS Motors Popular brand TVS Sport.
16. Faasos will begin selling its own brand of Jams,sauces and pickles through a retail website which is set to launch next year.
17. Venture Debt Provider Innoven Capital expects a two third increase in its deal count as it hopes to lend up to Rs 300 Crore to startups by the end of this year.
18. LG G4 will be the first non-nexus device to receive Android 6.0 Marshmallow Software.
19. There are 10 music videos on You Tube with over 1 billion views.
20. China's Sany Group will invest $3 billion in renewable energy in the next four years and its ready to expand its India Portfolio to $ 16 billion.
21. Amazon is in advanced talks to buy a stake in on demand home services company Housejoy.
22. Former MD of Reliance Jio Sandip Das to join Analysys Mason on November 1.
23. Volkswagen to recall 8.5 million diesel cars in European Union.
24. LIC housing finance reported a 21% jump in profit after tax Rs 411.7 Crores during the quarter ended September 30 2015.  

POLITICS, ECONOMY, CRIMES, ENTERTAINMENT, SPORTS AND NEWS AROUND THE WORLD

1. The supreme court modified its order on the use of Aadhar Identity Cards bringing within its fold four additional social welfare schemes-Provident Fund and Pension Schemes, The Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Scheme and The Jan Dhan Yojana.
2. CARE ratings has downgraded Bank Of India's Tier-II bonds from 'AAA' to 'AA+', citing deterioration in asset quality and a decline in profitability.
3. Oil Companies announced a rise of 95 paise in diesel rates.
4. Maharashtra announces 6% dearness allowance of state employees with effect from January 1 2015.
5. The supreme Court has directed Maharashtra Government to permit the dance bars to function in Mumbai.
6. Bollywood actors Rishi Kapoor and Ranbir Kapoor buys 2 flats in Trump Towers in New Delhi which is spread over 6,100 sq.ft each.
7. It was the hottest day for Mumbai City when the temperature touched 37.2 degree celsius.
8. Communist China has more billionaires than capitalist US. 596 in china as compared to America's 537.
9. Bengaluru ranks world no. 1 in office rental yield at 10.5%.
10. The highest pay packet offered for summer placement at Jamnalal Bajaj Institute of Management studies went up by 35% compared to last year.
11. Maharashtra and Gujarat have most Cheese lovers at 33% and 16% which consume 50% of country's dairy product.
12. ED busted another module allegedly involved in money laundering of nearly Rs 600 Crores  using a Ghaziabad branch of Oriental Bank of Commerce.
13. Doctors have found that Ebola virus can live in males upto 9 months.
14. Facebook is working on Breaking News app which will notify the users and is planning to launch by october end.

CURRENT AFFAIRS FOR 15TH OCTOBER 2015

CORPORATE AFFAIRS, E-COMMERCE AND TECHNOLOGY

1. United Spirits is venturing into regional cinema production to promote Bagpiper Brand.
2. FMCG Major HUL reported 5% year on year increase in domestic sales at Rs 7,819.64 Crores for the July-September Quarter while Net Profit Declines by 3% to Rs 962.24 Crores.
3. Arun Jain the founder chairman of Polaris Consulting & Services, is set to exit the company Virtusa Corp.
4. Big Fish Ventures a Delhi-Based startup that runs premium dining lounges plans to raise Rs 200 Crores on venture capital funding to open new outlets.
5. Videocon Group and Mumbai based digital advertising and technology company EveryMedia Technologies are buying teams in the New Dubai Based Masters Champions League.
6. Handset maker Micromax has invested in Gaana.
7. OnePlus is all set to unveil their next device on October 29.
8. There are more than 100 billion searches on Google out of which half of them on mobile devices.
9. Bizongo an online B2B marketplace for industrial goods and supplies has raised an undisclosed amount of funding from Accel Partners.
10. Content Distributor App Inshorts has acquired Palo Alto/ Bengaluru based BetaGlide a startup that builds technology to optimise mobile apllications.
11. ThyssenKrupp sees ease of doing business and lines up a Rs 300 Crore investment.
12. Evan Gallagher appointed CEO and ED of ASK Capital Management.
13. Realty developer Tata Housing Development Company has tied up with Facebook to market its project in Goa.
14. Japan's Drug Regulator, the Pharmaceuticals and Medical Devices Agency is set to open an office in India soon.
15. Vodafone to soon launch an IPO.
16. Tata Motors aims to double passenger vehicle sales to regain market share.
17. Reliance Life Sciences the biopharmaceuticals unit of Reliance Industries, has terminated its deal with Boston based Epirus Biopharmaceuticals for supplies of Remicade Biosimilars.
18. MasterCard Chief Executive Ajaypal Banga has maintained as the only Indain CEO among the world's top 100 CEO's.
19. Japanese auto maker Nissan has signed a $40 million deal with International Cricket Council to further strengthen its tie with the sport.
20. Mahindra First Choice Wheels Ltd acquired the business assets of Autorisk Management Services.
21. France based Private equity firm IndEu is set to raise $ 70 million to invest in Indian Luxury market.
22. Twitter appointed former Google Executive Omid Kordestani's as its executive chairman.
23. Apple Inc could be facing $862 billion in damages after a US jury found that the iphone company used the technology owned by University of Wisconsin-Madison's licensing arm.
24. The Coal Mines Provident Fund Organisation has given a mandate to handle Rs 75000 Crore worth of assets to Reliance Capital AMC, SBI, MF and ICICI securities.

  

POLITICS, ECONOMY, CRIMES, ENTERTAINMENT, SPORTS AND NEWS AROUND THE WORLD

1. Maharashtra Government is all set to launch 'Mukhya Mantri Gram Sadak Yojana' on the lines of the NDA government flagship programme ' Pradhan Mantri Gram Sadak Yojana'.
2. More than Rs 17 Crores in cash, over 800 kg of ganja, one lakh litre of liquor and over 8 kg of gold have been seized by authorities in poll bound Bihar.
3. Wholesale prices drop for 11th straight month to negative 4.54% in September.
4. Finance Minister Arun Jaitley will launch the first Arab Economic Forum in India.
5. The government may issue Swachh Bharat Bonds and impose a cess on automobiles, minerals and telecom services to fund Prime Ministers National Cleanliness Project.
6. There are 2080 ultra high net worth individuals in India with wealth of over $ 50 million and the number of dollar millionaires in the country is projected to touch 3,05,000 in the next 5 years.
7. Railways to invest $ 1,140 billion to modernise the service and improve the safety and passenger amenities.
8. FTIL sells 11% stake to exit Indian Energy Exchange for an undisclosed sum.
9. Bombay high Court orders MSEI to deposit Rs 21.6 Crores more in MCX's warrants case.
10. The Centre might raise the import duty to 25% from current 10% on wheat.
11. With Surplus availability of iron ore in the domestic market imports are likely to shrink to 5 million tonnes.
12. PM calls incidents of Dadri and Ghulam Ali row saddening and unfortunate.
13. Maharashtra Government names SG Aney as the new advocate general of Maharashtra.
14. Mumbai University has virtually repeated subjective question from two papers during april exam in the ongoing TYB.com Semester V exam.
15. India has been named the most attractive country for investment in a survey of over 500 global investors released by Ernst & Young.
16. The SC has asked writer Shobhaa De to respond to an assembly notice over her tweets on Marathi films.
17. All secret files relating to Netaji set to declassified from January 23.
18. UB group has decided to withdraw its association with Indian Derby.
19. Maximum temperature in India had seen rising once again with 36 degree celsius three degrees above the normal.
20. The state cabinet of Maharashtra passed a new policy that requires all departments to submit their purchase plans for each financial year in advance and complete all transactions by February 15 rather than March 31.
21. BEST is likely to propose an electricity tariff hike of 12-15% for the next fiscal year.
22. Ranjit Singh Deol a 1998 batch IAS officer took charge as Vice Chairman and Managing Director of MSRTC.
23. The state government will undertake road work worth Rs 13,282 Crores under Gram Sadak Yojana.
24. The Himachal Pradesh High Court asked the Centre to consider enacting a law where a total ban on beef within 3 months.
25. Russia may ban booze once a week in cities of Moscow and St Petersburg.

CURRENT AFFAIRS FOR 14TH OCTOBER 2015

CORPORATE AFFAIRS, E-COMMERCE AND TECHNOLOGY

1. TCS Quarter 2 revenue up by 3% at $ 4.2 billion.
2. Infosys have handed 2000 odd promotions to top performing employees and increased variable payouts, following consecutive quarters of industry leading growth
3. Twitter will layoff up to 336 employees or about 8% of its workforce to revive growth.
4. Mobille app startup Voodoo has raised an undisclosed amount in seed funding from Saif Partners.
5. PepsiCo is working with licensing partners to market a line of mobile phones and accessories in China in the next few months.
6. TAM media research and IMRB will jointly launch a guide to measure the combined frequency, viewership and reach of television channels, websites and mobile apps known as TeleWeb.
7. French startup Wynd has raised $ 7.8 million series A round from Alven Capital and Orange Digital Ventures.
8. Belgian startup expenditure has closed $ 5.7 million in series A funding from various private investors.
9. Boostinsider has raised $ 1.5 million from Fine Charm Ventures and Kyline Fortune.
10. French startup Doctolib has raised $ 20 million in funding from Accel partners , Nicolas Brusson, Pierre Kosciusko Morizet and Bertrand Jelensperger.
11. Royal Enfield has opened two exclusive showrooms in Madrid and Paris.
12.  Airtel to offer I-phone 6s and 6s plus through 235 of its retail stores.
13. Maruti Suzuki will launch its first premium hatchback Baleno on October 26.
14. General Motors India has said that it will take bookings of its premium sports utility vehicles Trailblazer through Amazon.in.
15. Singapore's Temasek to invest Rs 31 Crores in popular insurance Portal Policy bazaar.
16. Taro Pharmaceuticals the US subsidiary of India's largest drug maker Sun Pharmaceuticals has acquired Canadas Zalicus Pharmaceuticals by making a cash payment of Rs 25 crores.
17. Peter Kerkar owned travel company Cox & Kings has acquired British hotel booking portal Laterooms.com for Rs 84 Crores.
18. Reliance Power has appointed N Venugopala Rao as its CEO.
19. Welspun Renewables has received $ 617 million in funding.
20. DB realty will tie up with Radius Group to develop a housing project worth for Rs 3500 Crore in Mumbai.
21. Videocon Industries to split its loss making entities in 6 new group companies by circle.
22. Cafe Coffee Day allots 1038 crore equity shares at Rs 322 per share aggregating Rs334.27 Crores to 17 anchor investors.
23. Nippon Life one of the largest life insurers in the world which already owns 35% in Reliance Mutual Fund bought an additional 14% stake in the company for Rs 1,200 Crores.
24. India ranks third in worlds startup ecosystem.   

CRIMES, ECONOMY, ENTERTAINMENT, SPORTS, POLITICS AND NEWS AROUND THE WORLD

1. Punjabi author Dalip Tiwana returns Padma Shri over Dadri Lynching and growing intolerance in the country.
2. The 84TH birth anniversary of Dr APJ Abdul Kalam Azad will be celebrated by the Rashtriya Suraksha Jagran Manch.
3. Jayant Patel and Justice NV Anjaria as asked the state election commission to probe into the allegation of fake degrees against Gujrat MoS Health Shankar Chawdhary.
4. Vigilance sleuths raid IG rank officer Amitabh Thakur's House.
5. Global Steel demand is slated to go down 1.7% in 2015 to 1.51 billion tonne.
6.  State Run Bank of Baroda will soon hire an external accounting agency to identify the loopholes that led to  the Rs 6000 Crore forex scam.
7. Foreign Portfolio Investors have invested Rs 6000 Crores in Government bonds in a single day.
8. CBI have arrested 6 bank of baroda officials including AGM in connection with Rs 6000 Crores scam.
9. A 22 year old woman has become the first woman to be appointed as a train guard on the Central Railway's Mumbai Division.
10. The conviction rate in Maharashtra has touched a new high to 41.7% from 36%.
11. India has accorded citizenship to 14,864 persons who were living in the enclaves on the Bangladesh side.
12. Teenagers use text messaging more than any other mode of communication.
13. The world famous literary works of Britains iconic war time Prime Minister Winston Churchill have been declared a World Heritage by Unesco.

CURRENT AFFAIRS FOR 13TH OCTOBER 2015

CORPORATE AFFAIRS, E-COMMERCE AND TECHNOLOGY

1. Consumer Inflation rose to 4.4% in September a three month high.
2. 30,000 Google Chrome books activated everyday.
3. Hospitality Major The Oberoi Group has inked a management contract with Qatar General Insurance and Reinsurance Company for two new luxury properties at Doha.
4. Amazon India has tripled its warehousing capacity to 5 million cubic feet since last Diwali and has lined up 1 million products for next-day delivery as the country's two largest online retail rivals launch simultaneous five-day sales on Thursday.
5. Chinese Smartphones Gionee and Oneplus joined the Make In India Brigade , moves that will lead to cheaper devices for Indian Consumers and create more jobs locally.
6. Gym Trekker , an online portal to consolidate structured health and fitness solutions under a single platform , has raised an undisclosed amount from a clutch of angel investors.
7. General Motors announced shipping of first batch of 3,000 Chevrolet Beat Cars to Mexico a second major export market.
8. Swiss BioTechnology major Roche has launched two new medicines in India for treating Breast cancer that seek to increase longetivity for patients and to improve their quality of life.
9. Facebook is going to add shopping features to its application in Big E-commerce push.
10. Volvo financial operations launched its operations in India today.
11. Indian Oil is planning to spend about $ 5 billion to expand its exploration and production business.
12. Telenor appoints Sharad Mehrotra CEO of India operations while Vivek Sood has been elevated to Executive Vice-President and Chief Marketing Officer with effect from November 1.
13. Vodafone to launch 4G in India by December.
14. AirAsia to treble its Head count from 800 to 2,500 in the next 12 months.
15. Amar Ujala Publications which publishes the Hindi Daily Amar Ujala is likely to enter the capital market next month to raise Rs 300 Crores through a mix issue of shares and secondary sale of shareholders.
16. Computer Maker Dell to acquire EMC in $67 billion record technology deal.
17. IAS officer Alkesh Sharma was appointed as the Chief Executive Officer and Managing Director of Delhi-Mumbai Industrial Corridor Development Corporation.
18. The Index of Industrial Production rose to 6.4%  From 4.4% in July.    

CRIMES, POLITICS, SPORTS, ENTERTAINMENT,ECONOMY AND NEWS AROUND THE WORLD

1. 81 Years Jail for Muttahida Quami Movements Fugitive Chief Altaf Hussain was sentenced to 81 years in prison by an anti-terrorism court in Pakistan.
2. PM Modi to skip the two-day annual convention by Central Information Commission on various issues pertaining to RTI act.
3. Pakistan High Commssion said that nearly 40 Pakistanis are stranded in Delhi due to  cancellation of Samjhauta Express.
4. The Sahitya Akademi's Executive Board will meet on October 23 against rising intolerance in the country.
5. Scottish Economist Angus Deaton has won the nobel memorial prize in Economics.
6. Trucks entering Delhi to pay Green levy from November 1.
7. Imports of onion from Egypt and Afganisthan has helped to overcome the shortage of onion in domestic market and cool wholesale prices by 40%.
8. Surendra Kulkarni's face was blackened by Shiv Sena Workers at the book launch of Pakistan Foreign Minister.
9. Nearly 8 lakh chemist will go on strike to protest against the online sale of medicines.
10. 11 more litterateurs retun their Sahitya Akademi Awards. 
11. Government bonds auction invited Rs 17,266 Crores from foreign investors.