Current Affairs : August 23, 2011

August 23, 2011

World’s longest periscope

A 10 m long indigenously developed periscope for a nuclear reactor at the Indira Gandhi Centre for Atomic Researc (IGCAR) at Kalpakkam near Chennai was dedicated to the nation
The periscope is the longest in the world
Costing around Rs 3.9 crore , the periscope was handed over to
Bharatiya Nabhikiya Vidyut Nigam (Bhavini), Kalpakkam
It will be used in Prototype Fast Breeder Reactor to view objects inside the reactor during maintenance

U.N. nuclear official visits Iran’s restricted atomic sites

Head of the IAEA’s safeguards division, Herman Nackaerts visited Iran’s normally restricted atomic sites
Nackaerts and his delegation visited the Bushehr nuclear plant, enrichment facilities in Fordo and Natanz, nuclear sites in Isfahan and the Arak heavy water research facility
The group was allowed to visit research sites for advanced centrifuges, and that there were talks on how to expand cooperation with the IAEA
As per Iran it is all set to take steps to resolve its nuclear clash with Western powers in return for mutual steps from the international community
The IAEA has said Iran did not cooperate with its recent probe of Western allegations that Iran is trying to produce nuclear weapons. Iran says its nuclear program is for peaceful purposes
Western nations have enforced a series of economic and political sanctions on Iran to pressure it to stop enriching uranium

Rs 1,877 Crore for transformation of Post Offices

Rs 1,877 Crore provided by the Government for transformation and computer networking of Post Offices across the country
The Post Offices have started several VAS (Value Added Services)
Nearly 5 crore MGNREGA accounts have been opened apart from introduction of new services like Insurance and other financial services
The speed post business is increasing at the rate of 20 to 30% per annum
Many telegraph offices have been closed down due to increasing mobile, internet and SMS services but no employee on this account has been laid off
Department of Posts is exploring feasibility of setting up Post Bank

Baichung Bhutia retires from international football

Former captain of Indian Football Team, striker Baichung Bhutia announced his retirement from international sports
Baichung however, will continue to play for his club United Sikkim FC which he founded
Three-time Indian Football Player of the Year I. M. Vijayan described Bhutia as “God’s gift to Indian football”
He was the first Indian athlete to boycott the Olympic torch relay in support of the Tibetan independence movement

Honours

Arjuna Awardee in Football : 1998
Padma Shri : 2008

Bhaichung Bhutia Football Schools, Delhi

On 28 October 2010 he started Bhaichung Bhutia Football Schools in Delhi in partnership with Football by Carlos Queiroz and Nike, Inc

Baichung Stadium

Baichung Stadium is a football stadium in Namchi, the district headquarters of South Sikkim district in the state of Sikkim, India

The stadium was built in honour of Baichung Bhutia,in honour of his contribution to Indian football (first player to have such honour while he is still playing) The state plans to actively promote the sport made popular after Bhutia became the first Indian to play in a European league and captain the national team

India inks DTAA with Georgia

India and Georgia signed a Double Taxation Avoidance Agreement (DTAA) to avert tax evasion and swap banking information
Agreement provides for business profits to be taxable in the source state if the activities of an enterprise has a permanent establishment there
The agreement also provides for sharing of information to other agencies with the consent of supplying state
This Agreement is to provide tax stability to the residents of India and Georgia and will facilitate mutual economic cooperation b/w the two countries

North Korea willing to impose moratorium on WMD tests

North Korea has conveyed willingness to enforce a moratorium on tests of WMD (Weapons of Mass Destruction) and resume the stalled six-party talks on its nuclear programme
North Korea is ready to resume the six-party talks on the settlement of the nuclear problem in the Korean Peninsula without pre-conditions
North Korean leader Kim Jong Il agreed to go ahead with international talks on de-nuclearization of the Korean peninsula

Syed Habib, Former Indian Snooker Player passed away

Former Indian No:2 snooker player Syed Habib passed away
Habib was India No:2 in snooker for three years 1980,81,82
He entered the billiards when he defeated the then World billiards champion Michael Ferreira in the Pune Nationals in 1987
He also represented India in IBSF World Snooker in the year 1981 and IBSF World Masters Snooker in the year 2009.

Oldest Known Fossils of Life on Earth found by the Australian and British Geologists

The Australian and British geologists have found evidence of what may be the oldest-known fossils of life on Earth
The sulfur-based microbes they discovered are ~3.4 billion years old
The fossils were very well preserved between the quartz sand grains of the oldest beach known on Earth in some of the oldest sedimentary rocks that can be found anywhere
The discovery confirms that life emerged surprisingly shortly after the Earth finished being pulverized by asteroids during the Late Heavy Bombardment, which completed around 3.8 billion years ago

Standard & Poor’s President Devan Sharma to step down by end of 2011

Ratings agency Standard & Poor announced that Deven Sharma, the president of the agency would step down from the post by end of 2011
Sharma had turned into a public face of the rating agency following its historic downgrade on U.S. continuing debt rating
Sharma’s decision to resign came at a time when Standard & Poor’s is under immense pressure from a number of fronts, that includes the Justice Department which held an inquiry about its ratings of mortgage securities and lot of stress is given by the activist investors to disintegrate its parent company
Sharma had joined S&P in 2006 as executive vice-president, Investment Services and Global Sales, and later was named president in 2007. Before joining S&P, he served as the executive vice-president, Global Strategy, at the McGraw-Hill Companies for five years
Douglas Peterson, a top executive at Citigroup was chosen to replace Sharma as president of Standard & Poor

Sexual-assault Case against Dominique Strauss-Kahn dismissed by Supreme Court in Manhattan

The sexual-assault case against Dominique Strauss-Kahn was dismissed bringing an abrupt end to what had been a three-month criminal investigation
The dismissal order was issued by Justice Michael J. Obus of State Supreme Court in Manhattan
Former IMF chief Dominique Strauss-Kahn was accused of sexually assaulting an immigrant hotel housekeeper after she entered his suite to clean it

Proponent of Jaipur-Atrauli Gharana Ustad Azizuddin Khan passed away

Proponent of Jaipur-Atrauli Gharana (school of music), Ustad Azizuddin Khan passed away
He was dearly called as Baba among his disciples
Azizuddin Khan settled down in Kolhapur at the insistence of Chhatrapati Shhahu Maharaj
He initially came from Uniara of Rajasthan
The Jaipur-Atrauli gharana is a khayal-based stylised singing school founded by his grandfather Alladiya Khan in the late 19th Century
A branch of the Agra gharana, it gained reputation in the early half of the 20^th Century
The gharana is exceptional in that it was the first such school to be founded in Khyal singing,
whereas other major gharanas were previously founded on Dhrupad-based singing style
Some of his noted disciples include Mallikarjun Mansur, Dhondutai Kulkarni and Shruti Sadolikar-Katkar

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