19th August 2015 current affairs / Gk / GA: World Photography Day is observed on Aug 19 across the world.
- Be it a professional or amateur photographers, all of them celebrate the day with equal zest. One of the most important thing is to know about the origin of photography.
- The Daguerreotype photographic processes was invented by Frenchmen Joseph Nicephore Niepce and Louis Daguerre in 1837.
- William Fox is said to be the inventor of Calotype photo process.
- Homai Vyarawalla is the first lady press photographer from Navasari, Gujarat
Kochi Airport becomes world’s first airport to operate completely on solar power.
- Kerala CM Oommen Chandy inaugurated the 12 MWp solar power plant, comprising 46,150 solar panels laid across 45 acres near the cargo complex, at a function at the airport this morning.
- With this, the airport will have 50000 to 60000 units of electricity per day to be consumed for all its operational functions, which technically makes the airport ‘absolutely power neutral,’ Cochin International Airport Limited (CIAL) said in a release, adding, it is the first airport in the world to operate completely on solar power.
- CIAL had ventured into the Solar PV sector during March 2013, by installing a 100 kWp solar PV Plant on the roof top of the Arrival Terminal Block. This was a trendsetter in the field of grid-connected solar PV in Kerala.
Finance Minister Arun Jaitley launched two funds the India Aspiration Fund (IAF) and SIDBI Make in India Loan for Enterprises (SMILE) under Small Industries Development Bank of India (SIDBI) in line to carter funding for start-ups and to aid small enterprises in India.
- SIDBI under the first fund India Aspiration Fund (IAF) would invest in venture capital funds for meeting the equity requirement of MSME start-ups and for this the initial corpus of Rs. 2,000 crore has been set. Life Insurance Corp. of India (LIC) will be a partner and co-investor in this fund.
- Under second fund the SIDBI Make in India Loan for Enterprises (SMILE) is a debt-fund which will carter soft term loans to MSMEs to meet debt-to-equity norms and pursue growth opportunities, SIDBI has set Initial corpus of Rs. 10, 000 crore under SMILE fund.
LIC has launched its maiden unit linked insurance plan (ULIP) product across the country.
- The ULIP which is also called as ‘New Endowment Plus’ offers investment-cum-insurance provision during the term policy providing dual benefit for the policy holder.
- It provides dual benefits of risk cover and investment opportunity in market to the policy holder and also provides option of partial withdrawal under this plan.
- ULIP provides four fund options to policy holders in form of — bond fund, balance fund, secured fund, and growth fund to which policy holder can switch over according to their conveniences.
- Policy holders can switch over among the fund options for four times in a given policy for free of charge.
Tata Trusts to develop 264 villages in Vijayawada under Sansad Adarsh Gram Yojana Initiative.
- MP of Vijayawada Srinivas Kesineni, approached Ratan Tata, chairman emeritus of Tata Sons seeking his collaboration to develop model villages in his constituency under SAGY initiative.
- This initiative by the Tata Trusts is first of its kind where a Trust had planned to bring about grass-root level changes and to develop model village under SAGY initiative.
- Tata Trusts has come forward with an objective to build self sustainable and self driven villages with a focus on the well-being and happiness of the poor in 264 villages.
- For this project Tata Trust has recruited over 1,400 volunteers from these villages who will also get training for the job.
BSE introduces new system Suspicious Transaction Reports (STRs) for reporting suspicious trades in order to check money laundering through stock markets.
- The national stock exchange has asked its members to report details of the STRs submitted to the government’s Financial Intelligence Unit (FIU) on a monthly basis.
- Trading members are required to submit the data through a specific FIU-STR module on the BSE Electronic Filing System (EFS), an online gateway along with Cash Transaction reports (CTRs).
- In this data members should provide details of their registration with the FIU along with the information regarding the principal officers and the designated directors for the Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA) compliance.
Book titled The Kumbh Mela: Mapping the Ephemeral Megacity authored by Tarun Khanna was released by UP Chief Minister Akhilesh Yadav on 17 August 2015.
- The book, a product of Harvard University, is edited by Rahul Mehrotra, Felipe Vera and Diana Eck.
- The book which is a kind of research work of the University tells the story of the Kumbh Mela, the largest celebration on earth that depends on the positions of Jupiter, the Sun and the Moon.
- It also narrates that people mostly Hindus travel certain places along holy rivers, like Ganga, to take bath and cleanse themselves from sin.
Athletics Federation of India President Adille Sumariwalla as one of the members of the prestigious Council of the IAAF, the global governing body of the sport, in its polls held here.
- Sumariwalla, an Olympian 100m runner, was elected as one of the nine individual members of the all-powerful IAAF Council at the 50th Congress of the world athletics body held a day ahead of the start of the World Athletics Championships.
- Sumariwalla is the first Indian to be elected in the IAAF Council. He got 61 votes in the second round to get elected.
South Asian Football Federation U-16 Title : Bangladesh wins South Asian Football Federation U-16 title on 18 august 2015.
In the title clash at the Sylhet District Stadium of Bangladesh, the hosts defeated defending champions India 4-2 in penalties.
