Gk Update 11 August 2016

1. Azim Premji, Shiv Nadar in Forbes list of 100 richest tech tycoons

i. Wipro Chairman Azim Premji and HCL co-founder Shiv Nadar are the only two billionaires from India in Forbes' list of the world's 100 richest people in technology. They are ranking in the top 20 ahead of Google boss Eric Schmidt and Uber CEO Travis Kalanick.
ii. While the '100 Richest Tech Billionaires In The World 2016' list has been topped by Microsoft founder Bill Gates with an estimated fortune of USD 78 billion.
iii. Premji ranks 13th on the list with a net worth of $16 billion and Nadar comes in on the 17th spot with $11.6 billion of net worth. However, only five women rank among the world’s 100 richest in tech, including Zhou Qunfei on the 33rd spot.

2. Cabinet approvals

i. The Union Cabinet, chaired by Prime Minister Narendra Modi has given its ex-post facto approval for amendments to Section 44 and consequential amendments of the Lokpal and Lokayuktas Act, 2013 by introducing the Lokpal and Lokayukta (Amendment) Bill, 2016 in the Parliament.
ii. The 2nd approval by the Union Cabinet is for the ex-post facto approval for a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) between India and South Africa for cooperation in the field of Tourism.
iii. The 3rd approval has given for signing and ratification of an Agreement between India and Croatia on Economic Cooperation.
iv. The 4th approval is for amendments which have been made into the Maternity Benefits Act to raise maternity leave for women from 12 weeks to 26 weeks.
v. The Cabinet Committee on Economic Affairs (CEEA) has given its approval for the development of Advanced Ultra Super Critical (AUSC) technology for thermal power plants.

3. Jaitley launches data bank portal of MSMEs

i. Finance Minister Arun Jaitley has launched a data bank Portal of micro, small and medium enterprises, MSME in New Delhi.
ii. The portal aims to gather information about micro, small and medium enterprises.
iii. An Online Finance Facilitation Web Portal was also launched to provide collective funding options for MSMEs. Secretary in the MSME Ministry K K Jalan said, six Online Finance Facilitation Centres in Jalandhar, Ludhiana, Guwahati, Lucknow, Peenya near Bengaluru and Delhi have been opened today and six more will be unveiled in the near future.

4. CBDT constitutes committee to review media policy

i. Central Board of Direct Taxes (CBDT) has constituted a new committee to "review" the existing media policy for communicating the activities of the board and the income tax department to the public.
ii. The 9 member committee will be headed by Mr. Gopal Mukherjee.

5. IRCTC signs MoU with DRDO to get ready-to-eat food straight out of packet

i. The Indian Railway Catering and Tourism Corporation (IRCTC) has signed a MoU with Defence Food Research Laboratory of Defence Research and Development Organisation (DRDO) for Transfer of Technology of Retort Pouch Processed Foods so that ready-to-eat food can be warmed and eaten straight out of the packet.
ii. DRDO also grants a non-exclusive license to utilize the Technology by IRCTC for manufacture in India for a period of 10 years. 

6. Madhya Pradesh, Puducherry join UDAY scheme

i. Madhya Pradesh and the Union Territory (UT) of Puducherry have signed the memorandum of understanding (MoU) with the Ministry of Power to join the Ujwal Discom Assurance scheme that will save the state Rs 17,515 crore  and for the UT it is expected to be around Rs.72 crore.
ii. With these two MoUs being signed, the total number of states and union territories who are a part of UDAY has risen to 16.

7. Bill Maris, the CEO and founder of Google Ventures quits

i. Bill Maris, the chief executive, and founder of Alphabet Inc's , venture capital arm of GV, is leaving the company.
ii. Maris, who will leave on Friday, will be replaced by GV managing partner David Krane.
iii. GV, previously known as Google Ventures, was founded in 2009 and has invested in more than 300 companies from life science, healthcare, artificial intelligence, robotics, transportation, cyber security, and agriculture, and more. 

8. IKEA lays the foundation for its first store in India at Hyderabad

i. Ikea, a global leader in retail furniture, has laid the foundation for its first store in India in Hyderabad.
ii. The store is expected to open somewhere in July–August next year and is likely to see an investment of about Rs. 700 crore.
iii. This will be IKEA's first store in the country and will form part of a chain of stores planned across the country in a decade from now. The company has also acquired a large site for a store in Mumbai and is in the process of identifying sites in select cities across the country.

9. Intel buys AI startup Nervana Systems run by Indian-origin entrepreneur

i. Tech giant Intel has acquired California-based deep learning startup Nervana Systems, run by an Indian-origin entrepreneur, allowing the chip maker to foray into the world of Artificial Intelligence (AI).
ii. Nervana Systems is led by former Qualcomm researcher Naveen Rao, founded in 2014 and headquartered in San Diego, California.
iii. Nervana will help develop Intel's artificial intelligence portfolio and enhance the deep learning performance of Intel Xeon and Intel Xeon Phi processors. 

10. BHEL appoints Akhil Joshi as director

i. Power plant equipment manufacturer, Bharat Heavy Electricals limited (BHEL) has appointed Akhil Joshi as the Director (Power).
ii. Prior to this Joshi, 57, was the Executive director (ED) human resource at BHEL.
iii. Bharat Heavy Electricals Limited (BHEL) owned by the Government of India, is a power plant equipment manufacturer and operates as an engineering and manufacturing company based in New Delhi, India. 

11. Saina Nehwal is the brand ambassador for ITC's Savlon

i. ITC’s leading health & hygiene brand, Savlon, has announced the name of ace shuttler- Saina Nehwal as its brand ambassador.
ii. In its new campaign, Savlon seeks to inspire parents to let go of their fears  and encourage children to push their limits and maximize their potential to succeed in life. 

12. Microsoft appoints Sriram Rajamani as MD of its India lab

i. Microsoft has announced the appointment of Sriram Rajamani as new managing director of its India lab.
ii. He will replace Chandu Thekkath, who was the managing director of the lab for two years.
iii. Prior to joining the India lab, Rajamani headed the Software Productivity Tools group within Microsoft’s Redmond research lab.

13. India's sole weightlifter out of Rio Olympics

i. India's only weightlifter at the Rio Olympics, Sathish Sivalingam was ousted from the men's 77 kg weightlifting event at the Games.
ii. The lifter finished fourth in his group after lifting 329 kg, as against his group's best lift of 346 kg.
iii. Sivalingam had earlier won the gold medal in the same category at the 2014 Glasgow Commonwealth Games.