Current Affairs Updates: 26th August
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Do You Know?
World's 100 richest tech billionaires now worth over $1 tn
- World's 100 richest self-made tech billionaires on Forbes' Richest In Tech list are worth over 1 dollar trillion for the first time. Their combined net worth of 1.08 trillion dollar is up 21% from last year. Half of the 189 billion dollar increase came from 10 richest tech billionaires. Notably, Microsoft founder Bill Gates maintained his spot as the richest person in tech.
Drone startup DJI CEO named Asia's youngest tech billionaire
- Drone-making startup DJI's Founder and CEO Frank Wang Tao has been listed as Asia's youngest technology billionaire in Forbes' 2017 'Richest People in Tech' list. Wang, aged 36, is also world's first drone billionaire with an estimated net worth of $3.2 billion. The Chinese native founded DJI 11 years ago while studying at Hong Kong University of Science and Technology.
Delhi Metro launches free WiFi on all Blue Line stations
- The Delhi Metro Rail Corporation (DMRC) on Friday launched free WiFi service at all 50 stations of its Blue Line which runs between Dwarka Sector-21 and Vaishali/Noida City Centre. The passengers can use the service by searching for WiFi options and selecting 'Oui DMRC Free Wifi' for one-time registration. The DMRC started the WiFi service last year with Airport Line.
World's longest commercial flight to be announced by Qantas Airways
- Qantas Airways is set to offer a 20-hour non-stop flight from Sydney to London, making this the world's longest non-stop commercial flight. The flight, which will cross ten time zones, will reportedly be made available within the next five years. It will take a 17,038-kilometre route over Asia and Europe, and another over the North Pole.
Maharashtra launches web portal to help with competitive tests
- The Maharashtra education board has launched a web portal with online question banks to help students prepare for competitive exams on their own. The portal, which can be accessed for free, will function as a substitute for expensive coaching classes, board officials said. This comes after state School Education Minister Vinod Tawde banned integrated coaching in Maharashtra in July.
New Appointments: National
Vishal Sikka likely to join HP Enterprise as CTO: Reports
- After his sudden exit as Infosys MD and CEO, Vishal Sikka is now likely to join IT giant Hewlett Packard Enterprise as the Chief Technology Officer (CTO), according to reports. Sikka, on Thursday, stepped down from Infosys entirely with immediate effect, after Nilekani's entry. He had joined Infosys three-years ago from German software maker SAP, where he was the CTO.
Nandan Nilekani returns, but a different Infosys awaits him
- Nandan Nilekani, 62, has returned to the company he co-founded when he was 26.That’s a full circle for a man considered the last great chief executive officer (CEO) of Infosys Ltd. Friends and colleagues speak of his tremendous strategic and technological vision. If NR Narayana Murthy was all about “excellence in execution”, Nilekani was about the “big picture”.
Rankings
PV Sindhu rises a spot to 4th place in world rankings
- Olympic silver medalist PV Sindhu moved up a spot to reach the fourth rank in the latest BWF World Rankings released on Thursday. Indian shuttler Kidambi Srikanth, who has won two Superseries tournaments this year, dropped two places to the tenth spot. Notably, there was no Indian pair in the top 25 of men's doubles rankings.
Banking/Economic Affairs
Dhanlaxmi Bank, DHFL Pramerica tie up for bancassurance
- DHFL Pramerica Life Insurance Company has signed on Kerala-based Dhanlaxmi Bank as its bancassurance partner, under which the latter will distribute retail and group life insurance products to its customers across 260 branches in India.
- Speaking on the occasion, G Sreeram, Managing Director and CEO, Dhanlaxmi Bank, said the bank has consistently enhanced its portfolio to meet the diverse financial needs of its customers.
National Affairs
Indian mobile payments startup Ezetap raises over 102 crore
- Bengaluru-based mobile payments startup Ezetap Mobile Solutions has raised 16 million dollar (over 102 crore) in a funding round led by US-based venture capital fund, JS Capital Management. Existing investors, Social Capital and Hong Kong-based Horizons Ventures also participated in the funding round. Founded in 2011, Ezetap has raised more than 51 million dollar in funding to date.
Karnataka government to formulate policy to promote electric vehicles
- The Karnataka government will soon come out with an 'Electric Vehicle and Energy Storage Policy' aimed at reducing pollution and promoting healthy environment, Industries Minister RV Deshpande said. Though electric vehicles are expensive, he assured that the policy devised by Major and Medium Industries Department would have features to draw investors and manufacturers of electric vehicles.
International Affairs
SoftBank invests $4.4 bn in co-working space startup WeWork
- American co-working workspace startup WeWork on Thursday announced it has raised 4.4 billion dollar from Japanese conglomerate SoftBank's Vision Fund. WeWork closed a 760 million dollar financing round earlier this year at a reported valuation of 20 billion dollar. Founded in 2010, WeWork rents out desks and offices to small businesses, freelancers and other people seeking temporary working space.
First-ever tanker crosses the Arctic without icebreaker ship
- In a first, a Russian tanker has travelled through the northern sea route crossing the Artic in record 6.5 days without an icebreaker escort. The 300-million dollar tanker, however, used its integral icebreaker to cross over one-metre-thick ice fields. It carried liquefied natural gas from Norway to South Korea in 19 days, about 30% quicker than the conventional route around Europe.
Science & Technologies
Ice Age-era bones recovered from underwater caves in Mexico
- Researchers have recovered giant sloth fossils from underwater caves in Mexico belonging to the last Ice Age, around 13,000 years ago. The sloth might have fallen into an inescapable sinkhole before it was filled with water, said researchers. The "oldest and most complete human skeleton in the Americas" of a teenage girl from the same period was earlier discovered there.
Astronomers make 'best ever' images of a star other than Sun
- Astronomers using the Chile-based Very Large Telescope array have produced "the most-detailed-yet images of the surface and atmosphere of a star beyond our Solar System." The red supergiant Antares is 550 light-years from Earth and is 15 times more massive than the Sun. The team used light from four telescopes to create high-resolution images equivalent to a single 200-metre telescope.
Sun has no influence on current global temp rise: Study
- The star that sustains life on Earth has no influence on global temperature increase since the 1970s, a Germany-based study has claimed. Scientists marked that in the last 30 years, temperatures have increased at a rate not seen during past 1,000 years, while CO2 levels have increased by 30% since industrialisation began in the mid-18th century, suggesting a human influence.
Sports: Awards & Honours
Mo Farah wins career's last 5,000m race with 0.04 sec margin
- Distance runner Mo Farah won the final track race of his career, clinching a win in 5,000-metre final with a margin of 0.04 seconds at the Diamond League on Thursday. Britain's Farah finished the race in 13 minutes and 6.05 seconds. Farah won a total of 10 gold medals at the Olympics and World Championships during his track career.
Srikanth's 13-match winning streak broken by world no. 1
- Indian shuttler Kidambi Srikanth's 13-match winning streak came to an end as he lost 14-21, 18-21 to world number one South Korean Son Wan Ho in the World Championships quarter-finals in Glasgow on Friday. Srikanth had not lost a match since June 14, 2017 and had won back-to-back titles at Indonesia and Australia, where he had defeated Son Wan Ho.
Ronaldo first to win UEFA Best Player of the Year thrice
- Real Madrid's Cristiano Ronaldo has been named UEFA's Best Player of the Year for the 2016/17 season, becoming the first footballer to receive the honour thrice. Ronaldo finished ahead of Barcelona's Lionel Messi and Juventus' Gianluigi Buffon, to be awarded in back-to-back seasons. The 32-year-old was the top-scorer in last season's UEFA Champions League, which was won by Real Madrid.
Obituary
India's Oldest Cinematographer Ramananda Sengupta Passes
- Country's oldest cinematographer Ramanda Sengupta, who worked with legends like Jean Renoir, Ritwik Ghatak, and Mrinal Sen, died in Kolkata on Wednesday, West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee said in a statement.
- Sengupta, 101, left behind his son.
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