Finance ministers from leading rich and developing nations agreed Friday to strive toward effectively taxing the super-rich, a joint ministerial declaration said.

With full respect to tax sovereignty, we will seek to engage cooperatively to ensure that ultra-high-net-worth individuals are effectively taxed, the declaration said after the two-day meeting in Rio de Janeiro.

Brazil has made a proposal to impose a 2 per cent minimum tax on billionaires a top priority of its presidency of the Group of 20, ahead of the Nov. 18-19 summit in Rio.

While the final declaration stops short of agreeing on a specific global tax, Brazilian Finance Minister Fernando Haddad nevertheless called it a significant step forward.

The Jharkhand Assembly on Friday passed a Bill to impose cess on mined minerals to boost the state's revenue. This move follows the Supreme Court's July 25 ruling, which affirmed that the legislative power to tax mineral rights rests with the states.

Mining Minister in-charge Mithilesh Thakur introduced the 'Jharkhand Mineral-Bearing Land Cess Bill 2024', which was approved by voice vote.

The Bill proposes varying tax rates for different minerals on a per-metric-tonne basis: Rs 100 for coal and iron ore, Rs 70 for bauxite, and Rs 50 for manganese ore and other minerals.

In a major boost to the domestic aircraft maintenance, repair and overhaul (MRO) industry and to the aviation sector, the Union government has announced that a uniform rate of 5% IGST will apply to imports of parts components, testing equipment, tools and tool-kits of aircraft, irrespective of their HSN classification subject to specified conditions. This policy change is a crucial step towards enhancing the competitiveness of the Indian MRO sector, fostering innovation and efficiency and creating a robust and efficient aviation sector, according to Minister of State for Civil Aviation Murlidhar Mohol.

IIT-Kharagpur recently awarded Sundar Pichai, the CEO ofAlphabet, an honorary Doctor of Science (Honoris Causa)degree. The ceremony took place in San Francisco, marking a significant moment for both Pichai and the prestigious institute. Alongside Pichai, his wife, Anjali Pichai, was honored with the Distinguished Alumnus Award, further highlighting the couple's impressive achievements.

It was a homecoming filled with emotion and gratitude as Google CEO Sundar Pichai received an honorary Doctor of Science degree from his alma mater, IIT Kharagpur. The ceremony, held in San Francisco, also recognised Pichai's wife, Anjali Pichai, with the Distinguished Alumnus Award.

Reflecting on the honour in an Instagram post, Pichai shared, "Last week I was grateful to receive an honorary doctorate from my alma mater IIT Kharagpur. My parents always hoped I would get my doctorate, I think an honorary one still counts:)"

Former India cricketer Anshuman Gaekwad passed away on Wednesday at the age of 71. As per PTI report, he died after fighting a long battle with cancer.

Gaekwad, who previously served as an India coach and national selector, had been receiving treatment for blood cancer at King's College Hospital in London. He returned to the country last month. Earlier in June, the BCCI had contributed ₹1 crore towards Gaekwad's medical expenses, additionally, the members of the 1983 World Cup-winning team also pitched in to support him.

RITES Limited on Monday announced entering into a partnership with National Highways Authority of India (NHAI) to provide consultancy services in highways, bridges and tunnels and road safety audits.

In an exchange filing, RITES said, "This partnership aims to deliver consultancy services for NHAI projects in the areas of highways, bridges and tunnels and road safety audits."

RITES will conduct external technical audits, infrastructure health monitoring, and provide quality assurance and other related services, it said.

Indian Oil Corporation (IOC) has received the stage-I approval from its Board of Directors for the construction of a greenfield terminal at Bihta in Patna, Bihar, on Barauni-Kanpur product pipeline and Patna-Motihari-Baitalpur Pipeline. The project will involve re-sitement of the existing marketing terminal and pipeline pump station in Patna. It will have an estimated cost of Rs 1,698.67 crore.

In a regulatory filing to the stock exchanges, Indian Oil said, “Pursuant to Regulation 30 read with Part A of Schedule Ill of SEBI (LODR) Regulations 2015, it is hereby informed that the Board of IndianOil at its meeting held on 30th July 2024 has accorded stage - 1 approval for construction of Greenfield Terminal at Bihta, Patna, Bihar on Barauni-Kanpur product Pipeline (BKPL) and Patna-Motihari-Baitalpur Pipeline (PMBPL) at an estimated cost of Rs. 1,698.67 crores as combined re-sitement of existing Marketing Terminal and Pipeline pump station in Patna and for undertaking pre-project activities related thereto.”

Energy Efficiency Services Ltd (EESL) on Thursday said it has inked a pact with RajCOMP Info Services to promote energy efficiency and enhance public service delivery in Rajasthan. Under this partnership, Energy Efficiency Services Ltd will offer UJALA products and services on RISL's e-Mitra portal.

This collaboration aims to leverage the extensive e-Mitra network to promote energy efficiency and enhance public service delivery throughout the state, EESL said in a statement.

According to the statement, EESL, a joint venture of public sector undertakings under the Ministry of Power, and RajCOMP Info Services Ltd (RISL), an entity under the Department of Information Technology & Communications (DOIT&C), Government of Rajasthan, have signed an agreement.

The Government has formulated a scheme to provide cashless treatment to victims of road accidents caused by the use of motor vehicle and initiated implementation on a pilot basis in Chandigarh and Assam, Parliament was informed on Thursday.

In a written reply in the Lok Sabha, Union Minister Nitin Gadkari said under the scheme, the eligible victims are administered health benefit packages relating to trauma and polytrauma care at empanelled hospitals under Ayushman Bharat Pradhan Mantri-Jan Arogya Yojana (ABPM-JAY), up to a maximum of Rs 1.5 lakh for a maximum period of seven days from the date of accident.

"The ministry has formulated a scheme and initiated implementation on a pilot basis in Chandigarh and Assam to provide cashless treatment to victims of road accidents caused by use of motor vehicle, on any category of road, in collaboration with National Health Authority (NHA)," the road transport and highways minister said.

Two indigenous healthcare technologies developed under the Ministry of Electronics and Information Technology (MeitY)-funded project Nanoelectronics Network for Research and Applications (NNetRA) were transferred to industry on Wednesday.

The transfer took place at an event hosted by the Indian Institute of Technology (IIT) Delhi on July 31.

The technology named "DNA Aptamer for Prostate Cancer Detection" has been transferred to Dr Swapnil Sinha, HUMMSA Biotech Pvt. Ltd., Kolkata, India.

This "DNA Aptamer for Prostate Cancer Detection" technology is developed by Prof Prashant Mishra and team from IIT Delhi and is capable of binding to the specific oncogenes and could be useful as theranostics for prostate cancer. Meanwhile, the other technology "Photonic Chip based Spectrometric Biosensor" for pathogen detection has been transferred to Mr. Nitin Zaveri, UNINO Healthcare Private Limited, Mumbai, India.