Current Affairs July 29, 2015

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1. 2 Indians among 5 to win Magsaysay: Whistleblower bureaucrat Sanjiv Chaturdevi, who had initiated probe into the alleged scams at AIIMS, and founder of NGO Goonj, Anshu Gupta, were on 29th July chosen for the Ramon Magsaysay Award for 2015 along with three others from Laos, Myanmar, and the Philippines.

2. General Motors to Invest $1bn in India ops: General Motors sought to make a renewed push to turn around its struggling Indian operations and announced a fresh $1 billion (Rs 6,400 crore) investment, while rationalizing its operations by shutting down its first plant in the country, at Halol in Gujarat. The company plans expansion at its Talegaon plant in Maharashtra.

3. Cabinet clears Rs 20,000 crore infra fund, consumer protection bill: The Cabinet approved setting up of Rs 20,000 crore National Investment and Infrastructure Fund (NIIF), a sort of sovereign fund, for development of infrastructure projects, including the stalled ones.

4. In 7 yrs, India will surpass China in population: United Nation: India is expected to surpass China to become the world's most populous nation by 2022, the United Nations said on July 29. China and India remain the two largest countries in the world, each with more than 1 billion people, representing 19% and 18% of the world's population, respectively.

5. Anuradha Roy’s 'Sleeping on Jupiter' in race for Booker Prize: Indian writer Anuradha Roy’s latest work on the malaise of sexual abuse in India is among 13 international authors long-listed for the Man Booker Prize 2015. British-Indian Sunjeev Sahota’s ‘The Year of the Runaways’ is also in the running.

6. Tata Plan to foray into e-commerce : The Tata Group is set to foray into e-commerce, digital health and data analytics as the 147-year-old conglomerate seeks new growth drivers. The new businesses are housed under Tata Industries, which is usually the vehicle for investing and promoting sunrise ventures.

7. Sri Lankan govt. signs pact with Google: The Sri Lankan government signed an agreement with Google to cover the entire country with affordable high-speed Internet. The coverage of the country would be accomplished, using Google Loon’s balloon technology.

8. State Bank of India wants to enter wealth management Business: State Bank of India is planning to venture into wealth management business, one of the most profitable business initiatives of private and foreign banks. The bank is planning to recruit 40 executives for the proposed arm besides existing bank managers, who will manage high networth individuals' wealth.