South African Reserve Bank (SARB) has announced increasing key interest rates by fifty basis points to 6.75% on Thursday. It has also slashed down growth forecast to 0.9%. SARB has increased the interest rates for the second time with an interval of weeks. However, the rate hike will influence the Banks’ expenses and banking industry may witness job cutting as cost minimization effort.
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Oil rises on production cut speculation, pares losses in January
Oil prices rebounded on news that there may be production cut by OPEC. US Brent futures recouped losses by 6.8 percent and US crude pared 9.3 percent losses during the week. In overall, oil prices rebounded by over 25 percent after hitting 12-month low in January. Oil price hit $27.10 on 20 January 2016.
India needs $10 billion funds for road projects
India's Transport Minister Nitin Gadkari said that the country needs $10billion funds to give a push to the economy growth. The Indian government is targeting $14.7 billion investments for infrastructure projects in next three years. The Finance Ministry has also increased budget allocations by 50 percent for infrastructure projects.
Russia takes a look at global oil production cuts
Russia says there's proposal from OPEC on production cuts and it's open to have a word on oil production cuts. Russia is a non-OPEC oil producing nation. Russian oil minister said that the proposal envisages five percent cut in the oil production to support falling oil price. However, there's no clarity over the proposal whether it was from OPEC or non-OPEC members.
Zika and Other Mosquito Borne Diseases’ Spreading May Turn Vigorous With Climate Changes
Zika has appeared as a nightmare to many Latin American countries. The number of Zika infected has reached 4 million landmarks since reporting of the first case just eight months earlier. Absence of proper vaccine has made the situation much more terrible. Recently, scientists have escalated the fears revealing climate change may also contribute to the spread of Zika and other mosquito borne diseases.
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WHO on Thursday has warned for probable spread of Zika virus across the North and Central American countries. Ahead of rising concerns for Zika spreading, drug makers and scientists have commented that manufacturing of an appropriate vaccine may even require a decade. These warnings has opened a huge business potential for Oxitec, an Intrexon subsidiary. Oxitec’s gene modified mosquitoes are capable of ensuring security against Zika for large populations.
Google has been reported to conduct secret tests over drones under codename of SkyBender at Spaceport America in New Mexico. The tech giant is using 5G wireless that involves millimeter wave technology which is considered as the future of high speed data transmission technology. Though the test results have been kept secret, but the $300,000 tests bring fortune for Virgin Galactic Spaceflights, reportedly suffering from cash crunch.
At the end of the month, Chinese stocks rallied and closed higher on Friday. Despite this, Shanghai Composite Index suffered its biggest monthly fall in the past seven years. The Chinese benchmark index Shanghai Composite tumbled 22.6 percent in January and this is the biggest monthly fall since October 2008. Chinese currency Yuan was marginally moved up against the US dollar on support extended by People's Bank of China (PBOC).
Amazon has become inspired by Prime’s offers for free delivery within two days against online purchases for more than $100. Instead of spending more for shipping, Amazon is slowly approaching towards own delivery system through purchasing trucks and building own warehouses. These efforts have engaged current assets and narrow down fourth quarter profit. But 26% rise in yearly sales indicates a very different outlook.
BugSec and Cynet, two computer security companies have identified a security loophole in LG’s G3 smart phones. A built in app in G3 smart phones, naming Smart Notice, has enabled hackers to use the loophole to steal data. Upon information and following demonstrations from the researchers, LG has released a new version of Smart Notice containing a patch and urges users to run the new app ASAP.
California becomes the pioneer state with new LED standards in place. The new regulation replaces the old traditional directional bulbs with the more expensive but energy-efficient LED ones. While more expensive, California Energy Commission promises huge benefits in terms of a bulb's longevity and, more importantly, electric bills.
Reddit has initiated testing the official Android app on Thursday after releasing the beta version on December. Volunteers taking part in the previous test also remain as the first opportunists to test the official version. The official version is expected to override the hiccups existed in the third party application. The CEO of Reddit has hinted for going through massive modernization processes throughout 2016.
Fitness trainer and guru overcharge numerous die hard fitness fans for using the app. Fans become furious over high prices and horrendous cancellation process.
The Safari fault which has affected a range of Apple devices has been fixed. The fault was related to Apple's Safari Suggestions feature. Simply disabling this feature will stop Safari crashing says iOS developers.
