Current Affairs - 8th Mar 2014

27th Federation Cup Volleyball

Tamil Nadu won the male’s title defeating services whereas Railways won the women title defeating Kerala.

Google commits to bring more women to technology sector

Search engine giant Google has committed $1 million (over Rs 6 crore) to 40 startup-focused organisations, including Nasscom 10,000 Startups and Jagriti Yatra from India, to promote participation of women in the technology space. The efforts, a part of ‘#40 Forward’ programme under Google for Entrepreneurs’, are aimed at finding new ways to advance female entrepreneurs, on International Women’s Day.

Kit to detect virus in shrimps

Mangalore-based College of Fisheries has developed a diagnostic kit for the detection of ‘white spot virus’ in shrimps. The farmer-level kit is ideal for diagnosis and will cost farmers Rs 40-50, whereas the laboratory-level diagnosis costs Rs.500 a test. The kit can be preserved for four months in a refrigerator. The name of the kit is Rapidot Kit.

Japan declares Bitcoin as non currency

Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe’s cabinet said that Bitcoin, the world’s most well-known form of virtual money, is not a currency, but would be taxable. Tokyo defined Bitcoin as a product that is not handled by banks and securities houses. It also added that consumption tax would be levied on purchases of the virtual currency and income tax would be imposed on profits from its sale.

The decision was made after Tokyo based Bitcoin’s biggets bank MtGox was declared bankrupt.