CURRENT AFFAIRS NOV/06/2015

• CURRENT AFFAIRS NOV/06/2015
• 1. Jitu Rai wins silver in 13th Asian Shooting Championship

Ace Indian shooter Jitu Rai has won silver medal in 50 metre pistol event category at the 13th Asian Shooting Championship held in Kuwait City. With this historic victory Jitu became India’s first senior player to win the Asian Shooting Championship.

In the final match he was defeated by Korea's Park Daehun who shot a record score of 199.2 to clinch the gold medal. Jitu finshed with a finals score of 189.5 to win a silver medal.

In the junior events of the championships, India got four medals as India's Akhil Sheoran won a silver medal and Prashant won a bronze respectively. N Gayathri won  silver in the junior women's 50m rifle prone event with a score of 614.6. Gauri Sheoran, Heena Sidhu and Annu Raj Singh were not able to qualify for the finals in the women’s 25 metre pistol event. 

2.Cabinet approves MoU between India and Belgium in the field of energy

The Union Cabinet, chaired by the Prime Minister Narendra Modi has approved a Memorandum of Understanding which has been signed between Indian and Belgian government for cooperation in development of new and renewable energy technologies. The MoU was signed between Indian and Belgian government authorities at the Federal and regional level for energy.

Objective of MoU  :- To establish the basis for a cooperative institutional relationship to encourage and promote technical bilateral cooperation on new and renewable energy issues on the basis of mutual benefit, equality and reciprocity.

Areas of cooperation :- The areas of cooperation will focus on development of new and renewable energy technologies in the field of wind energy, biomass, solar (thermal and photovoltaic), smart grids, geothermal energy, marine energy, contribution of renewables to diversification of supply and energy security, and any other mutually agreed areas

3. Former Indian Ambassador to Nepal Bimal Prasad passes away

India's former Ambassador to Nepal  and renowned historian Bimal Prasad, passed away in New Delhi at the age of 92.Prasad was a close associate of independence activist, social reformer and political leader Jayaprakash Narayan.

Facts to know :-

• Born in 1925 Bimal Prasad was an intellectual with socialist inclinations and was well known for his postcolonial analysis of the Indian independence movement.
• Prasad was professor of history at University of Patna, Patna and then South Asian Studies at Jawaharlal Nehru University, and served as Dean, School of International Studies.

Ambassador to Nepal :- He was appointed ambassador to Nepal by Prime Minister Chandrashekhar (1991–1995)

Other  Responsibilities :-

He was Chairman, Institute of Gandhian Studies (Varanasi), Director, Gandhi Smriti and Memorial, Honorary Fellow, Nehru Memorial Museum and Library (NMML) and Honorary Director, Rajendra Prasad Academy in New Delhi. He was Senior Fellow at the School of Oriental and African Studies, University of London and Visiting Professor at the University of Leeds.

Education :- He was a graduate of Patna University and he went as a Fulbright Scholar to Columbia University and did his Ph.D. On the 'Origins of India's Foreign Policy' which became a seminal work.

Books's authored by him :- He had authored a number of  books on JPs philosophy and life including Socialism, Sarvodaya and Democracy, Gandhi, Nehru and JP, Studies in Leadership and A Revolutionarys Quest.

4. Union Government inking MoU with Colombia on tourism

• The union cabinet chaired by the Prime Minister Narendra Modi has approved the signing of an MoU with Colombia for strengthening cooperation in the tourism sector. The MoU will be signed between the Union Tourism Ministry and Ministry of Trade Industry and Tourism of Colombia.
• Signing of an MoU in the field of tourism would enable both countries to enter into a constructive dialogue for development and promotion of tourism in each other's country for the economic development of the two nations.

Objective of the MoU :- 

• The MoU will help expand bilateral cooperation in the tourism sector and encourage cooperation between tourism stakeholders, including hotels and tour operators. 
• Other objectives include exchange visits of tour operators, media and opinion makers for promotion of two-way tourism, participation in travel fairs and exhibitions in both countries and exchange experiences in promotion, marketing, destination development and management.
• 5. Varanasi selected for Microsoft's experimental Internet pilot proj

Varanasi the pilgrim town in Uttar Pradesh has been selected by Microsoft CEO Satya Nadella for the ambitious Digital India programme. In it's project Microsoft will also fund local entrepreneurs aiming to build devices that can overcome India’s bandwidth crunch.

Varanasi is among Microsoft’s two pilot projects in India to provide low-cost Internet to villages the first venue is a government school in Srikakulam district of Andhra Pradesh.

Microsoft wants to help build low-cost Internet infrastructure through a slightly different approach his company would use idle television broadcasting spectrum to operate devices developed by the local entrepreneurs.

Other IT giants that are taking part in Digital revolution of India :-
• Google received permission from the Indian government earlier this month to provide Internet using large balloons that float 20 km above the earth’s surface. 
• Facebook announced in October that it would launch a satellite next year in collaboration with the French company Eutelsat to provide low-cost Internet to 14 sub-Saharan African countries.