Current Affairs Aug 6, 2015

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1. Akram shot at in Karachi road rage incident : Pakistan’s legendary cricketer and former captain Wasim Akram escaped unhurt when an unidentified person opened fire at him in a road-rage incident in the busy Karsaz area in Karachi .

2. Karnataka to get institute on conservation of Western Ghats : The Centre has agreed to sanction Western Ghats Development Institute to Karnataka for conservation of the ecologically sensitive areas of Western Ghats in six States. The institute would be set up on 117 acres at Chakra in Shivamogga district for undertaking research and management of the Western Ghats, one of the eight biodiversity hotspots in the world.

3. Civil services’ pull gets stronger in Hyderabad : Hyderabad is now second only to New Delhi given the number of UPSC aspirants appearing for the civil services examination. The district administration of Hyderabad is making arrangements for 48,834 candidates to appear for the prelims scheduled on August 23 at Hyderabad .

4. IIT-Tirupati commences functioning : It was a momentous occasion on August 5th for the students as the 19th Indian Institute of Technology (IIT) began its functioning in the temple city of Tirupati.

5. BSNL to hive off tower assets : The Union Cabinet has approved hiving off mobile towers assets of BSNL into a separate subsidiary. BSNL has the second largest mobile tower infrastructure with about 65,000 towers. The forming of new subsidiary, which is expected to be valued at Rs 20,000 crore, will make sharing of towers with other operators easy.

6. Bata developing separate portfolio for online sales : Stung by the deep discounts being offered by the e-commerce platforms, footwear major Bata India is planning to create a separate portfolio exclusively for online sales. The portfolio will offer 500 products across all categories including footwear and accessories.

7. Visa testing new digital payment solution in India : Visa is testing a new digital solution in India. This is the first time the technology company is testing a push payment solution outside its headquarters in the U.S. The new mobile payment, termed ‘mVisa’, is part of the new digital strategy of the world’s largest card issuer.

8. Over 4,400 students drop out of IITs, NITs in three years: As many as 2,060 students dropped out from various Indian Institutes of Technology (IITs) from 2012-13 to 2014-15, human resource development minister Smriti Irani informed the Lok Sabha listing academic stress as one of the reasons.