1. Asia’s biggest telescope MAST inaugurated at Udaipur Solar Observatory in Rajasthan
i.
Multi-Application Solar Telescope (MAST), Asia’s biggest telescope was
inaugurated at the Udaipur Solar Observatory in Rajasthan. It was inaugurated
by Professor U.R Rao, Chairman of Physical Research Laboratory, inaugurated.
ii. The
telescope was installed under the project undertaken by Union Ministry of
Science and Technology and was funded by Department of Space (DoS). The project
will be monitored by Ahmedabad based Physical Research Laboratory.
iii. MAST
has a lens of 50 cm in diameter. These lenses were developed on the basis of
optical and mechanical system of Belgium. The rear part of MAS has been
developed by the observatory while its front part was developed by the Indian
Space Research Organisation (ISRO).
iv. It will
provide 3 Dimensional (3D) images of solar activities such as solar blast and
solar flares. It will also in vital studies about other planetary movements
even in the day time.
v. MAST has
been designed in 2004 and its optical elements were added to it in 2008. In
2013, it was installed at the Udaipur Solar Observatory.
2. Mathematician Dr. Amalendu Krishna wins 2015 Ramanujan
Prize
ii.
Presently, Dr. Krishna is mathematician professor at the Tata Institute of
Fundamental Research (TIFR), Mumbai. He hails from Bihar and had completed his
early college and schooling education there.
iii.
Ramanujan Prize was established in 2005. It is named after the noted Indian
mathematician Srinivasa Ramanujan. It recognizes a researcher from a developing
country who has conducted outstanding research in a developing country and is
less than 45 years of age.
iv. Dr.
Krishna is the second Indian to win this award. First was Sujatha Ramadorai who
had won it in 2006.
3. IDFC Bank to start operations from October
i. IDFC
Bank is set to start lending operations from October 1.The stage is set for
this with the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) granting IDFC Bank licence for
undertaking banking business, said IDFC in a notification to bourses.
iii. The
auditor certificate certifying transfer of business as on date of commencement
of operations of the bank should be submitted to the RBI, the financial
institution informed the bourses on Tuesday.
iv. The
board of directors of IDFC and IDFC Bank, at their meetings held on July 30 and
July 27, respectively, have determined that the demerger scheme could be
effective only upon receipt of requisite operational licences from the RBI and
IDFC Bank Ltd. will commence the banking business from October 1.
4. NDDB wins award for geographical info system
ii. The
award ceremony was held recently at the annual Esri International User
Conference in San Diego and presided over by Jack Dangermond, President and
Founder of Esri.
iii. With
the advancement of Internet-based GIS technology, it is now possible to
integrate and quickly disseminate the tremendous amount of attribute and
graphical data of villages into usable information for decision-making by all
stakeholders of the dairy sector.
iv. NDDB’s
Internet-based Dairy Geographical Information System (i-DGIS) application is
the first of its kind in India, where village-level integration of data has
been done, at such a large scale, for the dairy sector.
5. Ministry of Rural Development launches ‘SAMANVAY’ portal
for Gram Panchayats
i. Union
Ministry of Rural Development has launched ‘SAMANVAY’ web portal to monitor
progress and implementation of the Sansad Adarsh Gram Yojana (SAGY) for
development of Gram Panchayats. It was launched by Union Rural Development
Minister Chaudhary Birender Singh.
iii. The
purpose of this portal is to help Member of Parliament’s (MPs) to utilise
relevant schemes in the planning and implementation of SAGY. It will act as a
database for compiled and mapped information on various gram panchayat related
activities through various schemes undertaken by the Centre and State
Governments. In SAMANVAY, around 1800 state schemes from across all states have
been documented.
iv. Apart
from this, minister also launched a magazine Panchayat Darpan to monitor the
progress of the SAGY. The magazine will act as a mirror of all the development
activities by identifying 35 indicators undertaken in the village panchayats
under SAGY.
6. Delhi Government decided to have tram network in Old
Delhi
i. Delhi
government on 4 August 2015 decided to run trams in several walled city areas
including Lal Quila, Jama Masjid and Old Delhi Railway Station. The decision
was taken to augment transport infrastructure of the city.
ii. The
tram network in Old Delhi will comprise Jama Masjid, Chandni Chowk, Sheeshganj
Gurudwara, Old Delhi Railway Station and Fatehpuri Masjid. It will also link
New Delhi Railway Station and several other localities.
iii. The
government also decided to make Shahjahanad Redevelopment Corporation, set up
to carry out infrastructure projects in Old Delhi, on the lines of New Delhi
Municipal Council.
iv. As of
2014, the Kolkata tram in Kolkata (formerly Calcutta) is the only public tram
system in the country.
7. Alibaba to invest INR 4000 crore in Paytm
i. To tame
the world’s e-commerce giant Amazon, Alibaba is to invested 4000 crore rupees
in m-commerce giant Paytm. Alibaba has picked up 25 per cent stake in Paytm’s
parent company One97 through its subsidiary Ant Financial.
ii. Earlier
it has done investments in Snapdeal, FreeCharge and now Paytm which is the
largest mobile payments space in India. Paytm has around 80 million digital wallets
and Alibaba is interested in this major mobile commerce player in this
mobile-first market to topple the largest global rival Amazon.
iii.
Through the partnership with Alibaba Indian e-commerce players now also has
access to Chinese market.
iv. It should
be noted that the Indian merchants are second biggest sellers on Alibaba portal
after the Chinese.