Current Affairs 28th November 2015

Current Affairs 28th November 2015 - Important Points

• For what purpose India will be launching equity fund of $1 billion - For renewable energy

• Noboru Karashima passed away, he was an - Eminent Japanese historian

• Who was appointed as CFO of OlaCabs - Rajiv Bansal

• Who was appointed as Secretary General of Commonwealth of Nations - Patricia Scotland

• Which missile was successfully flight-tested and is developed by India and Israel - LRSAM missile

Current Affairs 28th November 2015 - Details

For what purpose India will be launching equity fund of $1 billion - For renewable energy

India has propsed to launch a $1-billion equity fund to support renewable energy companies with seed capital from public sector units. 

Ahead of 2015 Paris Climate Conference or COP-21, Piyush Goyal Minister of State (Independent Charge) Power, Coal and New & Renewable Energy, said, "While we hope the Paris talks will help developed countries provide long-tenor low-cost funding, we are also preparing ourselves to see how we can finance our renewable energy thrust."

Apart from the private equity fund, Goyal also said that the country expects to collect $4 billion a year in the next three-four years for the National Clean Energy Fund through a cess on coal mining. Since the Narendra Modi-led Government took charge last year, clean cess on coal mining has been quadrupled to Rs 200 a tonne.

Noboru Karashima passed away, he was an - Eminent Japanese historian

On 26th November 2015, Distinguished Japanese historian of South India and South Asia Noboru Karashima passed away. He was 82 years old. He was working as Professor Emeritus at the University of Tokyo and Taisho University. He is credited with playing a critical role in developing Indo-Japan cultural ties.

He was a tamil scholar and was president of International Association of Tamil Research (IATR) from 1989 to 2010. He was president of Japan Association for South Asian Studies from 1996 to 2000. He wrote many books on South Indian History. Few are Towards a New Formation: South Indian Society under Vijayanagar Rule, A concordance of the names in Chola inscriptions, History and society in South India and Ancient to Medieval: South Indian Society in Transition.

For his great contributions he was awarded with Padma Shri (2013) for his contributions in building India-Japan ties, Fukuoka Asian Culture Prize in 1995 and, Japan Academy Prize in 2003.

Who was appointed as CFO of OlaCabs - Rajiv Bansal

Among Important Business Current Affairs, On 27th November 2015, Rajiv Bansal was appointed as Chief Financial Officer (CFO) OlaCabs. OlaCabs is a app-based cab operator. He replaced Mitesh Shah, who will now lead strategic finance initiatives of Ola.

At the time of appointment Rajiv Bansal was serving as Advisor to the CEO at Infosys.

Who was appointed as Secretary General of Commonwealth of Nations - Patricia Scotland

Among Important International Current Affairs, On 27th November 2015, Dominica-born British lawyer Patricia Scotland was appointed as the Secretary General of the Commonwealth of Nations. Patricia become the first British citizen and first woman as well to hold this role. 

Before her this post was with Kamalesh Sharma of India. She was selected during the 24th biennial Commonwealth Heads of Government Meeting (CHOGM) in Malta on 27 November 2015.

Do You Know :

• Total members of Commonwealth nations are 53. 
• Commonwealth Secretary-General is the head of the Commonwealth Secretariat, the central body that has served the Commonwealth of Nations since its establishment in 1965.
• Office of Commonwealth Secretary-General is headquartered at Marlborough House in London.

Which missile was successfully flight-tested and is developed by India and Israel - LRSAM missile

Among Important National Current Affairs, On 27th November 2015 Long Range Surface-to-Air Missile (LRSAM) was successfully flight-tested for the first time from an Israeli Naval Platform. This missile is co-developed by India and Israel. LRSAM is also called Barak 8 missile in Israel which in Hebrew language means Lightning.

Test was conducted by Israel Aerospace Industries (IAI) in the presence of Defence Research Development Organisation (DRDO) scientists and missile was successful as it hitted the desired incoming target.

This missile is an advanced long-range missile with air defence system. 

The LRSAM programme consists of Missiles, Weapon Control System, MFSTAR (Radar), Vertical Launcher unit and two- way data link. 

It is capable to counter a wide variety of air-borne threats such as anti-ship missiles, aircraft, UAVs and drones as well as supersonic cruise missiles.