Current Affairs, News & Facts of 05 Aug 2015

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• In Cities like Delhi, Mumbai, Hydrabad imagine a day without traffic signal hardly anyone can reach office and accidents would become a frequent scene at every junction !!!!! yes exactly this was a daily routine of the folks 101 years back until electric traffic light was developed.
• Today Google remembers this historic day by a black and white doddle with the red-green lights of the traffic signal being the center of the attraction. Vintage cars, three at one end and three on the other, with alphabets G O O G L E on them move across the streets following the traffic signal rules
• On 9 December 1868, the first, non-electric, gas-lit traffic lights were installed outside the Houses of Parliament in London to control the traffic. The design combined three semaphore arms with red and green gas lamps for night-time use, on a pillar, operated by a police constable. The gas lantern was manually turned by a traffic police officer, with a lever at its base so that the appropriate light faced traffic
• This  gas-lit traffic light exploded on 2 January 1869, as a result of a leak in one of the gas lines underneath the pavement, injuring or killing the policeman who was operating it. With doubts about its safety, the concept was abandoned until electric signals became available.
• Although inventor of the electric traffic light is disputed but it is said that the first electric traffic light was developed in 1912 by Lester Wire, a policeman in Salt Lake City, Utah,  who also used red-green lights.
• On 5 August 1914, the American Traffic Signal Company installed a traffic signal system on the corner of East 105th Street and Euclid Avenue in Cleveland, Ohio.  It had two colors, red and green, and a buzzer, based on the design of James Hoge, to provide a warning for color changes.

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• HSBC India is planning to launch ’green bonds’ this year to enable fund raising for investments in projects with environmental benefits as per announcement made by  the private sector bank’s Chairman Naina Lal Kidwai in a Ficci event held on 3 August 2015.
• Globally, the green bonds market has tripled to USD 37 billion in last two years and HSBC is the world’s fourth largest issuer of green bonds.
• Other banks like Axis Bank and Yes Bank have come out with such bonds. In February, Yes Bank had raised Rs 1,000 crore against a targeted Rs 500 crore by issuing green infrastructure bonds
• Green bond is very similar to other bonds but the only difference is green bond publicly states that capital is being raised to fund ‘green’ projects, which typically include those relating to renewable energy, emission reductions and so on. There is no standard definition of green bonds as of now.

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• Tourism Ministry’s Incredible India advertising campaign has been bagged by advertising agency McCann India for a period of three years.  Ogilvy & Mather handled the business prior to this.
• McCann was chosen because of its unique consumer understanding, intrinsic reflection of the social conscience cultural insight and superlative creative work.
• McCann has also been responsible for the set of four commercials on ‘Atithi Devo Bhava’, from the Tourism Ministry, which is currently playing on air, and which feature superstar Aamir Khan.

Recent initiatives taken by the govt in Tourism sector :-

• National Tourism Policy is aimed at driving the tourism industry and give a major boost to infrastructure projects in the sector.
• Government all set to relaunch Incredible India 2.0 to create synergy for community participation and beyond this electronic visa on arrival has been termed a game changer and government is looking to extend the electronic visa on arrival to 150 countries by the end of this fiscal year.
• Launching of  500 crore mega project ‘Swadesh Darshan’ has also been launched, which has been termed a great opportunity for the private sector to invest in the infrastructure building process.
• Approval for the establishment of National Tourism and Hospitality University.

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• Cleaning of sewers, descending into manholes, removing night-soil (human excreta) using a broom find a place in the National Career Services portal that was launched recently as a part of Skill India.
• On its launch by Prime Minister Narendra Modi on July 20  the portal was to bring  employers and job seekers on a single platform which now and allow the hiring of the prohibited act of manual scavenging at the click of a button 
• Under the ‘unorganised sector’ panel of the website, a “Sweeper, Sewer” is “expected to” clean sewage systems by “using various cleaning instruments,” including bamboo or iron rod, and collecting debris and refuse in a bucket using a spade and handing this bucket to “helper outside manhole.
• Similarly, the “Sweeper, Wet” description lists a “key competency” of removing “night soil using spade and broom.”
• Incredibly, the job profile of a “Safai Karamchari” and a “scavenger” is listed as being “mildly hazardous or dangerous”  putting them in the same category as “astrologer” and “palmist” that come under unorganised sector careers.

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• Tirumala Tirupati Devasthanams (TTD) the shrine management board of  Lord Balaji, has now opened a demat account to enable devotees to donate shares and securities, after finding it a tedious task to get physical share certificates dropped in Hundi transferred on his name.The new demat account will make things easier
• Account Number 1601010000384828 with the Stock Holding Corporation of India belongs to Lord Balaji, which has been  opened by the Tirumala Tirupati Devasthanams.
• The account is functional and devotees can donate shares to the Lord, who has perhaps become the first deity in the world to have a demat account

The Tirumala-Tirupati temple is the richest in the world with over 1 lakh devotees visiting the shrine everyday. The daily hundi collection is in the range of 3-4 crore, including large quantities of gold. The temple owns 20 tonnes of the gold. SBI, the custodian, received 1,800 kg of gold as deposit from TTD last year

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• Bharti Airtel, which is world's third largest mobile service provider, appointed Nilanjan Roy as its global Chief Financial Officer . Nilanjan Roy will replace Srikanth Balachandaran, who is now being appointed as the global Chief Human Resources Officer. 
• Nilanjan Roy's appointment will come into effect from August 5, 2015. He is currently the CFO for India and South Asia business, and has previously held the roles of Financial Controller and Controller - India Mobile Business 
• Rajiv Mathrani has been appointed has been appointed as Chief Brand Officer of Bharti Airtel for its India operations. Rajiv Mathrani will replace Mohit Beotra, who has decided to move on from Airtel to pursue entrepreneurial opportunities. 
• Rajiv Mathrani will lead Airtel's brand positioning, strategic initiatives and associations, and will report to Srini Gopalan, Director - Consumer Business, Bharti Airtel (India). 

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India's biggest multi-application solar telescope (MAST) has been inaugurated at the Udaipur Solar Observatory The Udaipur Solar Observatory (USO) is among the six Global Oscillations Network Group sites in the world.

About multi-application solar telescope (MAST) :-

• Authorised by the Ministry of Science and Technology, MAST has been funded by the Department of Space. So far Rs 26 crore has been spent on the project. The Physical Research Laboratory of Ahmedabad will take care of the project.
• Besides providing 3-D images of solar activities like solar blast and solar flares, MAST could help in vital studies about other planetary movements.
• MAST, designed in 2004, had optical elements added to it till 2008. It was installed at the Udaipur Solar Observatory in 2012. MAST, which has a lens of 50 centimetre diameter, is developed on the basis of mechanical and optical system of Belgium. While its rear part was developed by the observatory, its front was developed by the Indian Space Research Organisation

Why was Udaipur selected for it's installation

The telescope was installed at the Udaipur Solar Observatory, as it is surrounded by water, which keeps temperature pleasant. Besides, the site can boast of more than 250 days of continuous sunshine, which allows to observe the sun properly during day time.

Image source :hindustan times

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• Peter O'Sullevan the 'Voice of Racing'  who has commentated on 50 Grand Nationals and around 14,000 races before retiring in 1997 died aged 97
• Peter O'Sullevan widely regarded as the greatest racing commentator although Australian JA McGrath is sometimes mentioned almost in the same line
• Sir Peter O'Sullevan  was a British horse racing commentator for the BBC, and a correspondent for the Press Association, Daily Express and Today. He was the BBC's leading horse racing commentator from 1947 to 1997
• In 1997,  Peter O'Sullevan set up a charitable trust which has since raised huge amounts for animal and racing-related charities

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• Anil Ambani-led Reliance MediaWorks Ltd (RMW) has completed sale of its multiplex business to Carnival Cinemas for Rs. 700 crore and will use the sales proceeds to bring down Reliance Capital's debt
• Reliance Capital is the parent firm of Reliance MediaWorks, which operated cinema chains under the brand 'BIG Cinemas' with over 250 screens across the country
• This deal will lower RMW's debt equity ratio to a conservative 1.75:1, amongst the lowest in the financial services sector in India.The sale of its multiplex business to Carnival Group in the largest ever deal in this space.
• The deal has made Carnival the third-largest multiplex operator with a nationwide presence and over 300 screens.
• It should be noted that the deal excludes real estate owned by RMW at IMAX Wadala and other properties and it will be separately monetised for an approximate value of Rs 200 crore

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• Roland S Folger has been appointed as Managing Director and CEO of Mercedes-Benz India he will replace  Eberhard Kern, who will assume a new role for the firm in Europe.
• Kern has completed a successful three year stint at the company he has played an important role in almost doubling the annual volumes of the company in the last three years and helped Mercedes Benz regain its number two position from BMW 
• Roland S Folger is the current President and CEO of Mercedes-Benz Malaysia will assume charge of Mercedes-Benz India from October 1. Merc is poised to take over number 1 position from Audi by the end of the year, if the current run rate continues in the luxury car space. 
• In 2006, he joined Mercedes-Benz Vans division as Head of Product Management and Marketing Communication and two years later took over the responsibility for worldwide Sales of Vans in September, 2008

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• Bharti Airtel has acquired the Mumbai-based mobile payment startup YTS Solutions  to integrate its payments and remittance businesses with Airtel and named the startup's co-founder and MD Manish Khera chief executive officer of Airtel Money.
• The acquisition, the first such by an Indian telco in the mobile commerce segment, will help in expanding the portfolio of Airtel Money, a mobile wallet, even as the telco awaits the Reserve Bank of India's decision on its application for a payments bank licence. 
• Once Manish Khera gets appointed, he will be a part of the Airtel Management Board and report to Gopal Vittal, Managing Director and CEO of Bharti Airtel (India & South Asia)
• Prior to founding YTS, Khera was MD and CEO of FINO Pay Tech Ltd, and earlier worked in ICICI Bank. 
• Airtel, is India's largest mobile operator with a customer base of over 230 million, covers 4,30,000 towns and villages backed by 1.5 million distribution outlets.

Image Source : news nation

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• In a major boost to Nestle India, FSSAI-approved laboratory of Central Food Technological Research Institute (CFTRI) has found Maggi noodles to be in compliance with the country's food safety standards.
• CFTRI had tested five samples sent by Goa Food and Drug Administration (FDA) when Maggi was banned in June in the wake of findings in Uttar Pradesh and other states that the instant noodles brand had lead levels beyond permissible limits.
• In June this year, Nestle had to take Maggi off the shelves, after few states decided to ban the noodles. FSSAI had also banned Maggi instant noodles terming them "unsafe and hazardous" for human consumption

Image source : fablefeed.com

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• Mathematician Amalendu Krishna of the Tata Institute of Fundamental Research, Mumbai has bagged Ramanujan Prize for 2015 
• Dr. Amalendu Krishna has been recognised for outstanding contributions in the area of algebraic K-theory, algebraic cycles and the theory of motives
• Dr. Amalendu Krishna was among the top mathematicians under 45 in the country his work in algebraic geometry attracted considerable attention. 
• Dr. Krishna is from Bihar and did his schooling and early college education there. He was born into a middle class family and grewed up in the conditions of disadvantage but by facing hardship he took up  science as a profession.

Ramanujan Prize

• Ramanujan Prize was instituted in 2005 it  carries a citation and a cash of $15,000. The winner is invited to give a talk at the ICTP.This is the second time it is being awarded to an Indian, with Sujatha Ramadorai having won it in 2006.
• Ramanujan Prize is awarded jointly by the International Centre for Theoretical Physics (ICTP), Italy, the Department of Science and Technology, Government of India, and the International Mathematical Union (IMU) to a person under 45 working in a developing country.

Image source :ictp