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IIT-Kharagpur has signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with Samsung India for the setting up of a digital academy on the institute’s campus. The Department of Computer Science and Engineering in the institute would host the Samsung Innovation Lab and train students on the Internet of Things (IoT) through Tizen-based operating systems, commonly used by the company for its mobile phones and home appliances.

Govt to introduce 'Food Street' at global food fair in New Delhi Government has said, it will introduce a curated food experience zone 'Food Street' at the global food fair in November in New Delhi. Talking to reporters, Food Processing Minister Harsimrat Kaur Badal said that the aim of this food event is to attract more investment in the food processing sector. The experiential platform will bring together culinary practices, flavours, fragrances from cuisines across the world. Chef Sanjeev Kapoor will be the brand ambassador of the event at the global food fair. The Minister said the global food event, which is being held in India for the first time, will provide a platform to investors to taste the food and then take a call on investing in India under the 'Make in India' programme. The government had last year allowed 100 per cent FDI for marketing, including through e-commerce, of food products manufactured and produced in India.

World Bank President Jim Kim has said India has been growing pretty robustly. Speaking at the Bloomberg Global Business Forum meeting in New York , Kim said Japan, Europe and the US along with India were growing and there was a levelling-out in developing countries. He called for more cooperation among the multilateral system, private sector and the governments to take advantage of the current win-win situation.

The Reserve Bank of India, RBI will introduce 100 rupees coin to mark the birth centenary of AIADMK founder Late Dr M G Ramachandran. Finance Ministry has issued notification in this regard. On the obverse, the face of the coin will bear Lion Capitol of Ashoka Pillar in the centre with Satyamev Jayate inscribed below on it in Devnagari script. It will also bear the rupee symbol and denominational value of 100.On the reverse side, the portrait of Dr MG Ramachandran will be in the centre. The standard weight of the coin will be 35 grams. RBI will also issue 5 rupees coin to mark the birth centenary of Dr M G Ramachandran.

Gujarat Govt- Amul sign MoU to save children of anganwadi from malnutrition. Gujarat Government and Gujarat Milk Marketing Federation-Amul have signed the Memorandum of Understanding to save the children of anganwadi from malnutrition. The MoU was signed in the the presence of Chief Minister Vijay Rupani. According to the MOU, under the ‘Take Home Ration’, district dairies in cooperation with the Gujarat milk marketing federation will provide nutritive foods to more than 42-lakh children of more than 53 thousand Anaganwadis, pregnant-mothers, lactating mothers and young girls.

Exactly a year after leaving the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) as its governor, Raghuram Rajan is coming out with a new book containing his commentary and speeches. According to HarperCollins India, which is the publisher of the book, it would offer “a front-row view” of his tenure at the central bank in “those turbulent but exciting times”. The book is titled  I Do What I Do . Rajan had said in his last days at the RBI that he won’t be engaging in public discourse for a year after leaving the central bank. The book is being launched after completion of that period. It would be formally launched in Chennai on September 5 and then in New Delhi and Mumbai. The book takes its name from Rajan’s famous quote on September 29, 2015 policy, when the RBI had cut rates by half a percentage point, surprising many. Raghuram G. Rajan in 2004 was the 23rd Governor of Reserve Bank of India.  

Five banks of the BRICS Bank Cooperation Mechanism have agreed to establish credit lines in the national currencies and cooperate on credit ratings. The agreement to this effect was signed yesterday ahead of the BRICS Summit in China’s Xiamen city. Brazilian Development Bank, Vnesheconombank, Export-Import Bank of India, China Development Bank and Development Bank of South Africa signed the agreement in Beijing yesterday. The Chinese official said the decision was taken in order to strengthen further cooperation. The agreement on credit ratings enables them to share information about internal credit ratings and rating assessment. Ahead of the BRICS summit, the New Development Bank (NDB) of the BRICS countries has approved 1.4 billion US dollar loans for sustainable development projects in India, Russia and China. For India, the Bank has approved 470 million US dollars loan for Madhya Pradesh’s Multi-Village Rural Drinking Water Supply Scheme Project.

Minister of State for Chemicals and Fertilizers, Mansukh Mandaviya today informed the Lok Sabha that all India weighted average MRP of urea has decreased by 71 paise per bag after the introduction of GST. In a written reply to a question, the Minister said, in this way, the farmers have directly benefitted from GST. He also said, there is adequate availability of all subsidized chemical fertilizers across the country and there is no report of any shortage. Mr Mandaviya stated that GST being an Indirect Tax, the dealers and manufacturers collect it for Government and deposit it to the Government treasury. Prior to the implementation of GST, the farmers were paying different taxes ranging between one to seven per cent. However, post GST, the farmers are paying a uniform tax of five per cent only.

Minister for Steel Chaudhary Birender Singh today said that first time India has become a net export country in Steel. Replying during question hour in Lok Sabha today, Mr Singh said, the steel imports in the country has gone down by 39 per cent and exports has gone up by 102 per cent last year. He said, crude steel production has registered 3.5 per cent growth during April-June 2017-18.

The State Bank of India has slashed interest on savings account deposits by half a per cent to three and a half per cent on balance up to 1 crore rupees. The bank said, for saving deposits balance above 1 crore, the rate of interest has been retained at 4 per cent per annum. The bank is introducing two-tier saving bank interest rate with effect from today itself. The largest public sector bank of the country said, revision of saving bank rate will enable the bank to maintain marginal cost of fund based lending rate at existing rates.

India’s Foreign Trade Policy Statement released in 2015emphasises the need of a branding strategy. The India Brand Equity Foundation (IBEF) established by the Department of Commerce works closely with stakeholders across government and industry to promote and create international awareness of the Indian products and services in overseas markets. IBEF has undertaken focused branding activities for sectors namely engineering, pharma, plantations (tea, coffee and spices), services, textiles and leather. This is done through a 360o branding approach including onsite branding, advertising in media, digital marketing including social media, PR, knowledge kits and revamping the websites of many export promotion councils. IBEF actively works with Indian missions abroad for its branding activities in overseas events and also supports them with knowledge works and branding collaterals. Department of Commerce encourages participation of exporters, export promotion councils, trade associations et...

Reserve Bank of India Deputy Governor S S Mundra has asked banks to work towards account number portability, as it will be a far-reaching step towards enhancing competition and improving customer service. Speaking at the annual conference of banking ombudsmen in Mumbai , he said banks should look forward to providing more choices to the new generation of customers who are more technology savvy. Mundra said this will be further accentuated with the possibility of portability of accounts and urged the banks to work towards account number portability. Mundra also referred to issue of the rising trend of loss of cheques from drop boxes and the lack of alacrity shown by banks in redressing such complaints. He asked the banks to look at the possibility of setting up a common account and compensate the customers immediately from the pool, without waiting for recovery of the amount from insurance. Referring to the tenets of the Charter of 'Customer Rights', Mundra asked the lenders an...