Current Affairs July 23, 2015

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1. Coimbatore to host India’s first museum for insects: India’s first museum exclusively for insects will soon be opened by Tamil Nadu Agricultural University at Coimbatore. The state government had sanctioned the proposal for an insect museum in TNAU in 2014, and had allotted 1 crore for the project.

2. Govt may allow ‘automatic’ FDI in white-label ATMs: The government is likely to allow 100% foreign direct investment (FDI) in white-labeled ATM operations under the automatic route to promote financial inclusion.

3. Microsoft posts record loss as it writes down Nokia: Microsoft Corporation reported a $3.2 billion quarterly net loss – its largest ever – as it wrote down its Nokia phone business, coupled with falling demand for the Windows operating system.

4. India’s Love for iPhone Grows 93%: Apple's iPhone sales growth in India has for the first time raced past Greater China in the three months to June, underlining the importance of the South Asian nation. The Cupertino-based company's sales of iPhones in India grew 93% in the third quarter — albeit off a far lower base — faster than 87% growth in Greater China markets, comprising China, Hong Kong and Taiwan .

5. Gold rout spreads to other metals: Copper, zinc and lead fell more than 1 per cent. The worst losses were in tin, which fell as much as 4.9%, the most this month . The selloff in gold is infecting metal markets from copper to zinc and tin.

6. Corporation Bank Joins Hands with Remit2India: Corporation Bank has tied up with Remit2India, a flagship brand of TimesofMoney to offer remittance services to bank’s oversees customers.

7. Final norms for listing start-up by SEBI: Bullish on a vibrant start-up ecosystem in India, regulator the Securities and Exchange Board of India (SEBI), said many new-age companies had initiated plans to get listed and the final rules for their listing would be notified within 7-10 days.

8. Bank of India to raise Rs 6,000 crore from bonds: State-owned Bank of India (BoI) plans to raise Rs 6,000 crore from Tier I and II bonds to fund its business growth.

9. NRIs can invest in NPS: Non-resident Indians (NRIs) can invest in National Pension System (NPS) to get a social security cover, pension regulator PFRDA’s Chairman Hemant Contractor said.

10. Huawei bets big on India: With the world’s largest smartphone market, China, saturating, handset maker Huawei is eyeing India to push sales and maintain its position as the third largest smartphone maker globally.

11. TRAI names firms faulting on call drop service norms: The Telecom Regulatory Authority of India (TRAI) has named Vodafone, Idea, Reliance and Airtel among the cell phone service providers failing to meet the quality of service norms in Delhi or Mumbai, especially on mobile call drops.

12. Centre unblocks funds for Ford Foundation: Months after its clampdown on the U.S.-based Ford Foundation, the Centre has unblocked foreign funds totalling $150,000 to be released to the foreign donor’s bank accounts. The Union Home Ministry put the foundation under the “prior permission” category in April 2015, in the interest of “national security”.